Something Not Quite Right
by juniper294
Summary: Alice is the new kid from another small town. But after meeting up with the kids in Forks, she realizes something just does not add up.
1. Chapter 1

**This will be my one and only disclaimer for the story: I do not own Twilight. I do, however, own this story and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you!**

Chapter One

It was officially my first day of school tomorrow. Of course, unofficially, I had snooped around when the students had been let out, but I hardly think that counts. It only should count when you meet all your fellow classmates, right?

I nodded to myself, while still pacing the outlines of my room. I was full of so much pent up energy, I could not keep still. All I wanted to do was pace, and then fiddle with my hands, and then pace some more. Maybe, I could do at the same time, if I was this agitated.

No matter, school would come when it did, and I would be ready for it. I nervously went to my closet and began to rummage through what was in there; it was only a fraction of its true glory. Before I had moved, the close content in my closet must have been ten times the amount of what it was in now.

Of course, before I had moved, things had been quite a bit different. Back in my home town, people had known me since birth. Back in my hometown, I had too many friends to count. Back in my hometown, I wasn't going to be the new kid, ever.

I picked up my phone and began to dial a number before I hastily replaced it in the cradle. I didn't want to talk to one of my friends. I could pick out an outfit for myself. With determination, I walked back over to my closet. I kept returning there. It was haunting me in the most unfashionable way- through fashion.

There had to be something I could wear that conveyed my personality, something that made me stand out, but not in an unpleasant way. But the more I looked through my now drab wardrobe, the more I realized that none of it was suitable.

_Something has to work _I thought to myself, picking up a short sleeved red blouse. It would never work. Too not me. I knew know that I had to go to the unspeakable, the far depths of this closet, where I kept my only moderately liked clothes. There was a collared white shirt on top of that pile that looked like it belonged in colonial times. _Make that my despised clothes as well._

I played with the idea of begging my mother to go on a late night shopping spree, but knew the odds were not in my favor, and decided to make do with the little I had. Throwing parts of this outfit, into parts of that, I finally came up with something semi-workable, but I also realized that I could not continue in this fashion, literally.

I decided that I should inform my parents of this atrocity before it got out of hand. Fingering the wooden banister as I walked down the stairs, I thought about tomorrow with excitement. My first day of school, aside from kindergarten, I had never been new, and now was my big chance. I could rid myself of all those horrible childhood memories and become who I wanted to be. I had never been given such a choice before now.

"Mom?" I called out, not bothering to look around. "Dad?"

"In here sweetie," I heard my father's deep voice answer, following the sound of it, I made my way into the living room, where I found my father and mother watching the nightly news shows. They were both engrossed with whatever political uproar had occurred and kept their eyes glued to the screen.

To make it clear, neither my mom, nor my dad, even began to watch anything relating to the mindless chatter most shows were made up of. But when it came to the news, they were all ears.

Clearing my throat in an attempt to gain their attention, I walked over and sat by my dad's feet. Picking up the remote to turn the program on mute, he looked over at me, wordlessly asking me what my question was.

"Well," I started off, thinking of the best way to phrase this. "Because I had to donate most of my clothes and all, I thought maybe you would buy me some more?" I asked, putting the best smile I could on.

My dad chuckled, but it was my mom who finally gave me my answer. "Alice, hun, you have enough clothes for an army up there. Why do you need more?"

"Please Mom? Dad, make her see reason here." I commanded, half-joking. My dad's look was clearly not serious, and I really did want to get some more clothes. I was in dire need.

"How about I make you a deal?" My mom started. I hate to bite back the groan at the tip of my tongue. All of my mom's deals were bad.

Once, when I was asking if I could start baby-sitting, my mom and dad decided that they need to make a deal with me. Two weeks living at my aunt's house with her two year old triplets and I could have any job I wanted. Let's just say I have yet to have brought that up again. My parent's deals were never good.

"If you can get one _girl _to go shopping with, provide the transportation, and be home before nine, I will let you go this Saturday" She said, laying down the rules. My eyes widened in surprise, this was a good deal.

Jumping up, I practically danced around the room in excitement. Not only did have a trip to plan for, I had a friend to make. This made the deal oh-so-much better. Singing my eternal gratitude, I pranced up the stairs and into my room. Everything was going my way. New school, new clothes, and new friends, what more could a girl ask for?

I was nervous, I was scared, I was worried, but most of all I was excited. I didn't know how to feel, or even if I felt good or bad. However, it was, it didn't matter. I was going to Forks High School in less than an hour and there was nothing I could do about it, aside from getting violently sick. That may have been an option, but certainly one I was not planning on using.

I was outside the building now knowing that I could not wait any longer to get to school. There were no students wondering about so early, and I prided myself on the fact that I was first.

My excitement bubbled over, washing all the negative feelings away, leaving me to skip freely to what I believe was the main office. Luckily, the lights were on and the staff had gotten here early enough for me.

I couldn't withhold the impish grin that was threatening to overrule my expression as I opened the door and made my way to the lady behind the desk. I pulled the sweetest smile possible in an attempt to appear like a good student rather than mischievous. "Hi, I'm new here. My name is Mary Alice Brandon." I said, introducing myself. The lady looked up from her paperwork and gave me a polite smile back.

"Yes, Miss Brandon. I have your schedule right here." She replied, fumbling with the stack of papers before her. There must not be much technology or computers here seeing the quantity of the papers. Even my last school had little to no paperwork due to the advancement of mankind and the development of technology.

It was nice to feel advanced for once. It always seemed like I was meeting people with newer and better things. But here at Forks High, I felt ahead of the times. My grin never faltered as she messed with the masses of paper in front of her. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had actually increased.

Once she had gotten everything in order, the lady handed me my schedule with directions to either navigate my way through the grounds, or wait on one of the sopping wet tables in front. It was needless to say I went with the former.

I briefly glanced at my classes and room numbers before meandering through the midst with my hood still pulled up. By the time the other students had arrived, I was freezing cold and dripping wet, but I was determined to have a good day.

Because it was almost time for first period, I made my way towards that direction, waving my hellos to whoever I passed by. Some of the students ignored me, or gave a small smile of acknowledgement, but most of my classmates grinned back and welcomed me to the school.

I was exhilarated and -despite the cold- as happy as could be. I had American History first and I walked into the room with a proud expression on my face. There were several open seats among the kids. As I walked up to the teacher, I scanned them out looking to see which one was my best option.

But it didn't matter. The teacher asked if I could wait in the front so that when my classmates all arrived, I could introduce myself. My eyes widened at this prospect. I mentally went through all of the things I could do, all the things I could do.

I recognized few people from before school and fewer that I had spoken to. By the time the bell had rung, everyone was in their seat with all of the attention on me. "My name is Alice Brandon, and I am a sophomore this year." I announced happily. I did not want to bore them down with random facts and other details so I decided to keep it as simple as possible.

The teacher pointed to a seat in front for me to sit at. Disappointed, I walked to said seat and sat down. I hated the front because I could see clearly almost as much as I hated the back because I couldn't. There was a short boy sitting next to me named Aaron. He introduced himself before turning back to the teacher and staring blankly at him as he spoke of ancient battles and wars.

Besides Aaron, it was needless to say that I did not make any friends in History. My mood, however, was not dampened yet. I held my head high as I walked to the next class. A few noticed me and waved, and I was too pleased to feel upset about earlier.

Classes passed the same until I had reached English, one of my favorite classes at my other school. I made it there early and the teacher motioned for me to take any seat I wanted, clearly not going to introduce me. I was both relieved and upset by the fact, but I kept that to myself. Near the end of the passing period, I heard a stumbled footstep approach and sit next to me. "Do you mind?" I heard a girl ask. I looked over with bright eyes. She had long brown hair and pale skin. But more importantly, she was going to be my new friend.

Laughing at my resolution, I stuck my hand out. "Not at all. I'm Alice." The girl took my hand shyly- as if she was the new student- and told me her name was Bella. "So how long have you lived here?" I asked, speaking the first thing that popped in my mind.

"Since I was born." Bella responded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked, laughing. One could certainly resent a town if not presented with the right situation.

"It's a good thing."

"That's always good." I continued, not knowing exactly what to say. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because moments later, the teacher walked to the front of the room and began to lecture everybody about the quality of their essays. I remained in my seat without a complaint, staring off into space.

When I finally tuned in once more, the teacher was talking about the next assignment that was due. I noticed Bella was furiously scribbling down what the teacher said. A few others sitting nearby were doing the same. Reluctantly, I followed suit. "Doesn't he give you a rubric?" I whispered to Bella, she looked over and shook her head.

"He thinks we should pay attention in class." She whispered back. Not knowing if this was an insult or not, I let it slide knowing that it probably wasn't. Bella didn't seem like that kind of person. She was too quiet to be mean.

The bell rang to signify the end of the class and students made their way quickly out of the classroom. I stood up and so did Bella, and it was then that I noticed the brace of her foot. That was what had made her gate so uneven, and here I thought she was just the clumsiest person to ever live. "Accident?" I inquired, nodding to her foot.

Bella laughed like that was a joke and nodded her head. "I tend to fall a lot." She responded, her cheeks blushing.

"You should go to dance lessons." I suggested. I heard Bella mumble something about being kicked out. I laughed out loud as we made a slow procession to Bella's next class. "So what do you have next?" I asked.

"Biology." She answered. "You?" Checking my new schedule, I smiled as I replied.

"Same! What next?" After talking for a moment, I soon discovered that I shared two out of the next three classes with her, and the one that I did not had Edward in it. Who he was, I had no idea. But I smiled and exclaimed that I couldn't wait to meet him. Anyways, any new friends are good friends.

Time flew, and before I knew it, I was in that class with Edward, though which kid he was still remained unknown. I sat in a seat and hoped that if this Edward character was so nice, he'd come and meet me. I glanced around, trying to guess which one he was. There was a kid with shaggy brown hair two seats in front of me, I was half-tempted to go ask him if he was Edward.

"What are you looking for?" I heard someone say. I looked over to see a boy with messy bronze hair watching me, obviously waiting for an answer.

"I don't even know." I laughed, still looking around. "Today is my first day, and I met this girl, Bella, who said that there was an Edward in this class and that I should meet him, and that would all be great if I knew who Edward was!" I practically cried, still whispering the entire time.

"Pleasure to meet you." The boy said, nodding his head.

"Please tell me you are not Edward and I totally didn't just make a fool out myself in front of you." I mumbled, still exasperated. Edward's grin doubled in size.

"What are you talking about? I just introduced myself." He said, looking truly confused. I laughed along with him for a moment.

"I'm Alice. Nice to meet you." I continued on, pretending to ignore my sudden outburst. Edward was nice. He probably wasn't as nice as Bella, but he was nice all the same.

After this period, it was time for lunch, but I wasn't dreading it. I knew exactly who I was going to sit with. I practically skipped down to the cafeteria.

Lunch, can't live with it, can't live without it. You see, lunch is one of those essential times of the day were you can sit, eat, and do whatever the hell you feel like. But of course, if you don't know where you are going to sit, or more importantly who you are going to sit with, you might as well curl up beneath a rock and die, metaphorically speaking of course.

When I entered the cafeteria, I quickly scanned the crowds looking for a friendly face, preferably Bella's or Edward's. They weren't hard to find. The two of them, along with three other kids, were sitting at their own table closer to the back.

I had to maintain a steady walk over there without running, skipping, or any other similar mode for transportation. By the time I got there, I was bouncing up and down slightly. Bella turned her head after noticing someone was in fact behind her. "Do you mind?" I asked, lacing my words with sugar, trying to sound as sweet as possible. I might have over done it though, because three of the kids were just staring. "I'm new here…" I continued, trailing off.

"Sure, Alice, sit down." Bella said, scooting over on the bench. "This is Emmett," She explained, pointing to the larger looking kid. He smiled and reached out his hand.

"Hey kiddo, skip a grade or two?" He asked condescendingly. Inching away from him, I began to wonder who Bella and Edward sat with.

"He's just joking." A fairly pretty girl said, elbowing Emmett. She smiled before continuing. "My name is Rosalie. Are you new here?" The question was redundant, but I could tell Rosalie was just trying to make small conversation.

"Yeah, I moved here last week, but I haven't gone to school until today. Forks is so great!" I laughed, looking around the cafeteria. And although my other school had been equally nice, I felt a rush of excitement in the fact that it was a completely new experience.

"Good to see you think of it that way." Edward chuckled, shaking his head slightly. I didn't completely understand what he meant by that and I was sorely tempted to tilt my head and ask when I realized that someone had gone unnoticed. There was a boy sitting across from me with sandy blond hair and a wiry frame. He was currently looking at the hand he had placed on the table.

Edward, seeing me change my focus, quickly looked between me and the boy. "This is Jasper." He said, his mood changing slightly.

"I'm Alice, as you already know." I said, extending my hand. Jasper looked up in surprise. It was as if he was surprised I had directly addressed him. He gave a slight smile and grasped my hand lightly with the hand that had been on the table.

Emmett started to laugh for some unknown reason and I couldn't keep my curiosity under control.

"Why is that funny?"

"It's not." He laughed, breaking down into a fit. Thoroughly confused, I silently asked Rosalie what it was. She shook her head slowly, obviously knowing Emmett better than the rest of us.

"You don't want to know. Emmett," She trailed off, not speaking to Emmett, but to me. "Emmett finds things funny that we don't necessarily understand."

I smiled along with her, feeling as part of the group as ever. Edward and Bella chuckled at the joke; even it happened to not be the epitome of funny.

I didn't know what to say, I had too much to say. I wanted to inquire about every little thing that popped through my mind, but I had to remind myself that these people had just meet me, and looking like a freak was not on my to-do list. I had to settle with the more basic questions. "So what grade are you guys in?"

"We're all sophomores. It's how we met." Rosalie stated in a matter-of-fact voice. I had the feeling that she was the one to take charge, whether the others liked it or not. Paying no attention to the fact, however, was easy and I listened attentively when she began to describe how exactly they had met.

After she had finished the story of when she met Emmett in third grade, I suddenly realized I had forgotten to buy myself a lunch. I cut in when Rosalie took a breath. "I'll be right back; I need to go buy lunch." I said, jumping up suddenly. I noticed Jasper flinch, but I didn't mention it.

The lunch line was empty by now and I didn't have to wait at all. After grabbing a premade sandwich and a bag of chips, I paid for the food and eagerly made my way back to the table.

"I can be so forgetful sometimes." I apologized, looking up at the ceiling. I gave an embarrassed smile and sat back down.

"Better be careful, the food isn't the best." Emmett warned, looking excitedly at my lunch.

"You would know, Emmett; you eat the most of it." Edward reminded him, rolling his eyes. I smiled at the most likely familiar banter.

The food I had didn't look too bad, and I figured Emmett must have been kidding, but I was slightly alarmed. I pulled back the clear plastic wrap and picked at the top piece of bread.

"Emmett's only joking." I heard a quiet voice say from across the table. I looked up in surprise, not recognizing the voice. The others did too. Jasper was the only one who had yet to have talked, and it must have been him. I smiled my gratitude; he must not talk often judging by the look on everybody else's face.

"I was scared to eat it." I said. I wasn't usually this gullible, and I certainly do not intend to take Emmett seriously for the next eternity or so.

Emmett grinned as he suddenly realized the jokes he could play on me. I practically groaned in exasperation before quickly realizing the jokes I could play back on him.

"You better watch out Emmett, she has that same look." Bella said, looking between me and him. I widened my eyes and gave an innocent look.

"I would never do anything like that, Emmy." I pouted, playing the celestial look up just a little too much.

Just then, the bell rang. Jasper jumped at the sound and I realized that he must be quite the anxious student.

Bella's brace hit the ground with a thunk as she swung her leg over the bench. Cringing at the sound, I gave a slight chuckle. "So you fell? Are you really that clumsy?" I asked, still laughing.

Bella blushed and looked down at the boot she was wearing. "Yes, she really is that clumsy." Emmett answered for her, giving Bella a solid thump on the back. She glared daggers at his back as he walked away. The rest of us followed. Bella and Edward were behind me, while Rosalie was running ahead to catch up with Emmett, leaving Jasper at my side.

I noticed that he too had his own injury. There was a thick bandage wrapped around his wrist in a makeshift cast. "Did you fall too?" I asked, wondering if Bella could hear my joke at her expense.

"Yeah, something like that." Jasper answered, his voice barely audible. I had to strain my ears to hear him.

Wondering about his strange answer, I made my way to my next class.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The steady pounding of the rain proved to be a rather rhythmic sound to listen to when doing homework. I was sitting there for what seemed like hours listening to the patter of water against the roof. I could get very used to living in Forks, very fast.

I had gotten home from school about two hours ago, at about three, and since then, I had been continuously working on homework, well apart from all the other things I was doing simultaneously. I did happen to be listening to music, dancing, playing with my hair, and eating a snack as well. But apart from that, I had not stopped for anything.

It was odd to start in the middle of the year. But to me, it was strange to start at any time. Everybody knew everyone. And yet here I was, the new girl. I was the person that I used to always gossip about with my friends.

Today had gone as well as could have been expected. Nobody was overly nice, but nobody was overly mean. This pleased me to no end. I had made friends, and almost every period I was with someone. After lunch, I had discovered that Edward was in Earth Science with me and Jasper was in my first period class, according to Emmett.

Jasper was such a mystery. I couldn't even begin to figure him out. He seemed like the quiet type, but he did talk to me. Maybe he liked me as much as I liked him.

Not that I liked him or anything, but he was pretty nice. And it couldn't hurt that he was handsome. I found myself not only picturing him in my mind, but thinking about him constantly when I went to each problem. I wondered if he was any good in math. I certainly wasn't.

Doodling randomly on my page was not helping me finish the equation. I had to push all thoughts of Jasper out of my mind and focus on the dull, lifeless numbers that were set out before me.

I couldn't concentrate, and I wasn't getting anything done just sitting here. I stood up and stretched my arms and legs, pondering the fact that Jasper must have to do that so often. He was so tall, taller than most grown men. The school desks must be as annoying to him as they are to me. It was almost embarrassing that my feet barely touched the ground, but it couldn't be helped. At least my short limbs were easier to coordinate, making me appear graceful.

I walked over to my radio and turned it on, tuning it to a good station. The music pounded from the tiny box. And as it did so, I started swaying to the beat. Grabbing a good book from my shelf I did a flying jump onto my bed. I could barely contain my laugh when I nearly bounced off.

I usually enjoyed reading, or at least somewhat, but today I could not find myself entranced by the book. Instead, I merely read word to word for the next ten pages or so until I declared myself officially bored.

The music continued to play, but even that could not take my mind off of whatever it was focused on. Nothing could. I got up once more, threw the book on the shelf, and went to turn the music off. I would have to find something else to occupy me.

Giving on last glance at my forlorn, unfinished homework, I made my way into the kitchen where I could hopefully find my mom.

My dad was going to have a busy week and would be absent for most of the dinners. The house seemed empty with only me and my mom. If I had some siblings, maybe things would seem more alive, but the only noises were the clanging from the pots and pans as my mom bustled around the kitchen.

Even if it was just the two of us, my mom made it a habit for her to continue to cook through the nights my father wasn't there rather than having us eat out. I preferred the latter, but it did not make much of a difference and I didn't complain. Sometimes I even helped her with the preparation. I decided today would be one of those days.

When I made it into the kitchen, I was greeted with the smell of burning food. What it was, I had no idea. It was beyond recognition. "What happened?" I asked, waving my hand around in the air to push away the smoke that was emanating from the oven.

My mother stopped what she was doing and looked over to me. "I overcooked the casserole." She sighed. Through the sour-smelling smoke, I could see her pulling a black crusted dish out of the oven.

Shaking my head, I ran to turn the fan on in hopes of avoiding the fire alarm going off. I flipped the switch and the blades began to turn. "Are we doing take-out?" I called to my mother from across the room.

"Why don't you call one of your friends and you can eat dinner with them?" She replied, scraping the burnt dish with a spatula in a vain attempt to get the "casserole" into the garbage.

The idea she proposed however, was ingenious and I couldn't help the impish grin that spread over my features at the prospect. "Sure, I'll see what they are doing." I yelled, running up the stairs.

Once I made it to my room, I immediately ran to my phone and flipped through the numbers I had gotten today. Bella told me to call her anytime, and I planned on using that option. Dialing the number, I impatiently tapped my foot listening to the droning beep signaling she had not picked up yet. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, I was greeted with a human voice. "Hello?" I heard Bella answer into the phone.

"Hey it's me, Alice!" I exclaimed, excited to talk to a friend.

"Hey Alice. What do you want?" She asked, not sounding annoyed, but certainly to the point.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner or something, you could invite everybody." I started to explain. Bella listened patiently until I was finished with the heroic- but slightly exaggerated- tale of how I saved my mother from certain death while she was baking, resulting in the burnt casserole.

"Well I have to make dinner for my dad, but you are welcome to join if you want. In fact, I am sure he wants to meet you. Why don't you come over? I might try to see if the others can come too"

I had to hold back the squeal of joy that threatened to escape my lips. I would love to come meet Bella's parents, but I could also not wait to see my new friends, one in particular. Jasper might be there, making this dinner sound even more amazing. Telling her that I could come, she gave me directions to her house and a time. "I'll be there soon!" I said as my farewell, and with that I was grabbing my purse and jacket, and going down stairs to tell my mom.

Being fifteen sucks. You cannot drive yourself anywhere, but all your sixteen-year-old friends can. I would like to say I wasn't embarrassed when I hopped out of my mom's car onto Bella's driveway, but I can't. I quickly shooed my mother away and ran up to the door.

Her house couldn't be easily described, but the word quaint came to mind. It was somewhat small, but looked comfortable enough. The designed looked slightly outdated, but not overly so. It was quaint. That was the only word I could come up with.

It took me a moment to find the doorbell. But once I did, I happily rung it twice for good measure. I waited a moment until I heard the heavy footfall of Bella's boot coming closer to the door. "Hi Alice," Bella said, opening the door.

"Sorry it took a bit. My mom had to finish cleaning her pans." I replied. To get out of the steady drizzle, I quickly stepped inside her house. "Thanks for inviting me over. I was worried I might have to hunt through my kitchen. It's a disaster in there."

"No problem at all, I am actually finishing it up now. Anyways, my dad loves to know everybody in town. I guess its part of being in the police force." Bella turned and started walking towards the kitchen with me at her heels.

"Your dad works for the police?"

"Yeah, that's why there is a police car out front." She explained mildly. Turning my head as if I could see through walls, I looked in the direction of the vanishing police car. How had I missed that?

"Oh, I didn't see it." I explained to her while she pulled a bottle of fruit juice out of the fridge.

"Do you want some?" She said while pulling out a glass. I shook my head no. I noticed how nobody else had arrived, but the pasta dish looked like more than any of the people present could eat.

"Are the others coming?"

"Only Emmett and Edward. Rosalie had some plans with her family." Bella explained. I watched her fumble around the kitchen and it was no surprise to me that she had hurt her foot.

"What about Jasper?" I asked, remembering that Bella had not mentioned him. I couldn't help the forlorn gaze that crossed my features, but Bella either didn't notice or merely didn't say anything.

"He never comes to anything, not even parties and events like that."

"Why not?" I demanded as politely as I could. I had to get the facts before I could properly crush on someone, if that was what my feelings for Jasper were becoming. It was a silly, teenage girl thing to do, but in my defense I was a teenage girl and was within my rights to fully crush on any guy I desired.

"I don't know, he always has a different reason," was Bella's only response. It left me even more dissatisfied, but my train of thought was cut short when I heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it." I ordered Bella when she started to clunk her way over. There was no way I would let a cripple get the door when I was more than able. It was entirely unnecessary for her to get up to greet Emmett or Edward, or both.

I skipped to the door before yanking it open. If I was stronger, it would have certainly been ripped off its hinges. But I doubt my small frame could do such damage "Eager, aren't you my little elf?" Emmett laughed, pushing me aside in order to clear a path for him to enter.

I glared at him, but I wasn't angry. This caused Emmett to laugh all the harder. "It's Tinkerbelle!" He exclaimed, doubling over from laughter.

Edward, who had followed Emmett in, presumably getting a ride from him, shook his head in mock shame. "He likes to make fun of the new kid." He said as if this explained everything. I couldn't help to chuckle at the pair's interactions. They must be good friends despite their actions towards each other.

I ignored them and walked back into the kitchen where Bella was diligently working on the pasta. It smelled much better than my mom's. I began to wonder if Bella's parents had the same culinary skills as mine.

"Remind me why we invited them over again?" I joked to Bella, who merely looked over and shook her head, much the same as Edward had done moments before.

"You love us, Alice. We are your new bestest buddies, right?" He said, tapping me on the back. I turned around and once again sent a glare in his direction. Emmett kept walking and went down to sit down at the table. Deeming that an unworthy place to sit, I plopped down on top of the counter and rhythmically began to swing my legs. "So what's for eats?" Emmett asked, picking an apple off out of the fruit bowl and tossing it up in the air.

Edward, who gracefully caught the apple mid-toss, answered. "Why don't you go look?" Edward then continued to throw the apple up in the air much the same as Emmett had been. I couldn't contain my laughter.

"You guys are so weird." I managed to get out between my gasps. I had brought the attention onto me and all three people were staring at me, amused by my antics.

"What?" I laughed at their incredulous looks.

"Nobody laughs at the Emmenater!" Emmett growled, but this caused me to laugh all the harder. Bella went back to her food and moments later officially declared dinner both ready and a success.

"I'll go get my dad, no hurting each other while I'm away." Bella warned before shuffling over to the stairs and going to make her slow procession upwards.

As much as I really was excited the Edward, Emmett, and Bella were hanging out with me, my thoughts immediately traveled to the absent, one in particular. I wished Jasper was here, even if it was irrational that I could miss him. The only thing I really knew about the kid was that his name was in fact Jasper, or at least I assumed so.

But still, my mind refused to put him down. I thought about him constantly. He was just there, hovering on the edge of notice. I wouldn't even realize it until I noticed why I could not concentrate, and then it would come back with full force.

I knew nothing about him, he was practically a stranger, but it wouldn't change the fact that I liked him, like him like him. I laughed out loud at my brain's childish term for a crush, causing both Emmett and Edward to look over at me. "I think she is officially insane." Emmett declared with conviction.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically, as dismal as I was at the attempt. It also didn't help that while I tried to talk with a nasty tone, there was a large smile on my face. But it's the fact I tried that counts, right?

"So what were you thinking about?" Edward asked with honest curiosity in his voice. His deep, green eyes bore into me and I couldn't help the faint blush that tainted my cheeks, much the same as Bella's.

"Me naked, huh?" Emmett said mildly, as if it was no big deal. "I know, lots of girls do so. I'm not offended."

"What?" I asked surprised, Emmett was the last thing on my mind, and certainly not him naked either. "That's disgusting." I gagged.

"Let's let that subject drop." Edward said quickly, before Emmett could respond. Emmett laughed, but made no further comment.

I could hear Bella's footsteps coming down the stairs, uneven as they were. Behind her I heard yet another pair. Looking at the man standing next to Bella when they finally rounded the corner, it was not hard to see that they were related. "Hello Mr. Swan." I said, sticking out my hand.

"Hi, you must be Alice," He smiled politely, shaking my hand with his own. It was that instant that I declared I officially thought Bella's dad was awesome.

Laughter rung out at the crude joke Emmett had made, it wasn't all that funny, but anything seemed risible at the moment. Everything was going too well. Bella's dad, Mr. Swan, was a down-to-earth guy and nobody -me included- felt awkward with him sitting at the table despite his age.

I swallowed another forkful of the pasta Bella had made, laughing once again at Edward's comeback. Even Bella, who I assumed was a pretty quiet girl, was laughing hard at the jokes. I couldn't help but wonder if this was an average get-together or if I had made the difference, if I had made this time just a tad bit more fun. I would hope it was the latter, but I couldn't tell. "Do you like it here in Forks, Alice?" Mr. Swan asked after the sound had died down.

I took a moment to finish chewing before I thought briefly. "I like the change," was my eventual answer, which was completely truthful. "Everything is so different." I continued, trying to explain my answer.

Mr. Swan nodded, clearly understanding my point. That was all I needed to get across, I wouldn't have to get into the fineries of why I liked or disliked the town. That was definitely a good thing. I wouldn't dare try and offend them, and who knows how close to Forks they are. "So why did you move?" He continued to inquire.

"My dad wanted to move closer to the hospital, he works there." I explained, knowing the real reason rather than the fabricated lie my parents told me. It was something along the lines of a "need to change scenery."

Mr. Swan nodded at my explanation, he clearly knew my dad. The others, however, were a bit more clueless.

"Your dad is a doctor?" Edward asked with curiosity illuminated on his features. Somehow, that must have related to him in some way, whatever that may be. I nodded in answer and almost as if he'd been reading my mind, Edward explained to me the relevance of his question. "My dad is a doctor too."

"What's his name?" I couldn't remember any Dr. Masen's that my dad mentioned, and he did name quite a few of his coworkers.

"Carlisle Cullen," Edward responded immediately. I thought for a moment, figuring out that could be possible, but once again Edward knew exactly what I was thinking, or had a ridiculously good guess. "I'm adopted."

I made a slight "oh" to say I understood, but other than that did not reply because Bella, who had gone over to get a refill on her drink, crashed to the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked immediately, standing up. Bella, to my surprise, just popped back up like it was nothing before anyone could react. The others did not seem too alarmed by her rush to the ground, even if they did have masks of concern on their face.

"I'm okay," Bella said quickly before limping back to the table. She did not seem perturbed by the fact she had fallen, and taking suit I made no comment. Emmett was not nearly so kind.

"Has Bella told her story yet?" Emmett asked me, shaking from laughter.

"I think I can tell my own story!" Bella exclaimed while sitting down. I looked between the two, curious on how she had managed to hurt herself, but waiting for the argument to resolve itself. There was no need to interrupt, that's for sure.

Finally, when the disturbance had settled, Bella began her recounting of the story. She had won the argument after all, and I was in no mood to pick a fight with her. Who knew the shy girl could throw insults like that?

"It was a week before you got here," She started, sounding much like the girl I had met in the classroom, unlike the bickering Bella from just moments ago. As Bella talked, she pushed an offending lock of hair behind her ear absentmindedly. "I was hanging out with Edward at my house, and I kind of," She stopped, hesitating.

"Kind of?" Emmett exclaimed before she could continue. "Kind of? She totally fell. She leaned on a door that wasn't closed and toppled over!" He laughed, finishing Bella's story for her. Bella glared at him, her brown eyes squinted.

"It wasn't that bad." Bella muttered, still obviously angry at Emmett. I glared at him too, more for the fun of it than actually being mad. Emmett put on an exaggerated hurt look that almost broke my concentration. I found it hard to glare and laugh at the same time. Trust me, it did not give the desired effect.

"How did Jasper get hurt?" I asked, remembering his vague answer. I had not pressed him hard enough, but I was determined to find out.

The expressions of their faces were anything but comical, but varied greatly. While Bella's was one of concern, Emmett looked slightly aggravated, like I had brought up a bad subject, and Edward just looked passive, but definitely something more, unreadable.

"Touchy subject?" It didn't make sense. Bella certainly didn't mind if we spoke of her accident, she was only slightly embarrassed.

"He's quiet, he hasn't told us yet." Bella answered, looking put out by the fact. I sympathized with her, but my curiosity in this mysterious Jasper spiked. I was still confused by Bella's answer and decided to inquire further.

As I was about to ask, I realized Mr. Swan did not need to hear this. I then changed my mind to ask later, when I had some time to grill them on these important things.

There was an awkward for several moments before- saved by the bell, or ring- my phone started going off. I sent an apologetic grin to them before standing up and answering the phone in another room. "Hello?" I asked. I never checked the Color ID.

"Alice!" I heard my mom exclaim. "Can I pick you up now? You should get home soon." She continued, talking in a business voice after her initial burst.

I looked over to Bella and covered the mouthpiece. "I have to go home, is that okay?" I asked, trying to polite. Emmett answered, shaking his head no with a menacing look. Rolling my eyes, I turned back around.

"Pick me up whenever," I told her. After we said our goodbyes, I repeated the process, saying goodbye to my newfound friends.

It was only when I hopped in my mother's car did I remember that I forgot to ask if Bella would go shopping with me. I guess that would have to wait until tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When I got to school the next day, I was excited for whatever it may bring. I had classes with Jasper, Bella, and Edward. The best thing of all, however, was that Forks High didn't do assigned seats. You got to choose where you wanted to sit. I skipped down the halls in excitement at the prospect of sitting next to all three of my friends, seeing as they were in different classes with me.

It was a bummer that I couldn't be in classes with Emmett, or maybe even Rosalie. They were in the same year, but I guess I could not have all of the luck in the world. But things were going very well so far, extremely well. I had accomplished my set of goals for Forks. But I still had some other things to do, mainly solve a mystery.

Jasper was his own little enigma, one of those Rubik's Cubes you just can't solve, but you still can't put it down.

It was not like I had really talked to the guy. We have only exchanged a few sentences, but I felt like I had known him forever. I certainly have thought about him enough to last me quite a bit. I was determined to get to the bottom of whatever it may be.

As I walked through the crowded hallways of Forks High, I weaved in and out of the student body. Beings short had its advantages but this certainly was not one of them. The people who did notice me, waved hi and a few even tried to engage in conversation. Needless to say I gave them the cold shoulder, however rude that may be. I could barely hold myself back from running through the mass of people.

By the time I had made it to American History, I had a large goofy grin on my face. It couldn't be avoided; everything was just going way too well. I scanned the room, but Jasper was not there. That fact must have been influenced by the time. Class did not start for a least a couple minutes. I had time to wait.

I could not stop thinking about Jasper as I sat there. I hoped he would sit next to me and that he felt comfortable enough to do so. Even with our few words, I hoped he would be confident and come here without my insistence. But I guess I would just have to find out.

I was bouncing in my seat, a mix of anxiety and happiness flowing through my veins. He would be here soon, and I would have more time to get to know my newest companion.

I fingered with my pencil and brought out a paper and a folder for my class. It was the middle of the year and students were expected to have all the necessary supplies without prompting by the teachers.

All of my supplies were previously used from my old school. I wasn't about to buy a whole new set of school necessaries just because I had switched. I found the idea ridiculous when my mother suggested it.

Now however, I understood where she was coming from. My folders had been slightly ripped and I had doodles on my binder. It did match the other students though, so I had little to worry about.

I found myself glancing at the door every few seconds or so. He had not arrived and the bell was about to ring. I prayed that he would come soon knowing that if he didn't, I would have to wait an entire day until I next spoke with him.

The door opened and sandy blonde boy walked in. He started to head for the back until I nearly waved him in my direction. I smiled when he redirected his course towards me. "Hi Jasper," I whispered when he was within hearing distance. He gave a small smile and dropped his books on the table. He had been holding them with one hand and looked slightly uncomfortable. His other hand was held tight against his body, and I can only assume it was because of his discomfort. I made a mental note to ask him what was wrong with it, as well as inquire upon the reasoning behind it.

"Hi Alice," he whispered back when he was seated. Standing, he was much taller than me. But sitting, the difference did not seem so vast.

The bell had rung immediately after he had spoken. I smiled and silently begged the teacher to give us a partner activity. Almost as if she had heard my prayer, the teacher walked up to the front of the class and began to give instructions.

"Today we are to fill in this map of Europe. It should be Europe in the 1940s. Page three hundred thirty six will help you in the text. You have the entire period, and you and your partner will only turn in one. It needs to be colored and labeled." She said continuing to bore us with the details of our assignment. Honestly, I couldn't wait for her to finish. Clearly we did not need the entire time to do what looked like a mindless job, as if a four-year-old could not copy and color this map.

I turned to Jasper the moment she stopped talking. He was pulling out his textbook and flipping through the pages. Only when he made it to the correct page did he look up. I sat there patiently until he did so. "Ready to work, partner?" I asked in a gleeful tone.

Jasper shook his head before answering. "Absolutely not," He laughed. I decided I liked his laugh. It was quiet and only barely audible because of its deep tone.

"Do what you want to color or should I?" I asked ignoring his previous answer. He sat there quietly studying the page. I briefly wondered whether he had heard me or not until he looked up and answered.

"You should." He replied gesturing with his bandaged arm. "I'm right handed." His right hand was the one that was immobilized. I agreed with him on that front knowing that if he did our project, it would have turned out practically illegible.

"Good point," I laughed. I slid the blank map closer to me and looked over onto Jasper's book. I marked the obvious countries with their correct names in a dark marker. The classroom was not quiet and I decided that it was safe to continue on with our conversation. "So how did you hurt yourself?" I asked, not looking up from a paper.

Jasper paused before replying, fingering with the fraying part of the bandage. "I fell." He said as simply as possible.

"How?" I continued to ask, not letting him get by that easily. Jasper must have realized this because a grim smile appeared on his face.

"Down the stairs," He elaborated. I left it at that and merely shook my head.

"Are you as clumsy as Bella?" I smiled.

"Nobody is as clumsy as her. She's a walking accident." He couldn't have been more dead-on with that. It was to be assumed though; he had known her much longer. I began to wonder how much longer and quickly voiced my question.

"I moved here two years ago." He stated, still fiddling with his bandage.

"Why did you move? From where?" I continued on my inquisition. He smiled, laughing at my many questions. They were slightly abundant, but I was also meeting everybody for the first time. I had a right to ask many, many questions.

"I used to live in Texas. My dad changed jobs and we moved here. How about you? Where did you move from?" He asks turning the questions onto me.

"Another small town not so far from here. My dad also moved here because of his job. He wanted to move closer to the hospital. He's a doctor." I explained, repeating the same story from last night. Jasper nodded his head in understanding.

"Did you know Edward's dad is a doctor?"

"Yeah, he was telling me earlier." I replied avoiding where he had told me. I didn't know if Bella had invited Jasper at all. I can only assume she did. But if she didn't, it would be slightly rude of me to mention dinner last night.

It was silent for a few moments as I worked on the project. It was tedious and I had no idea why the teacher had not only given it to us, but let us work in partners as well. Whatever the reasoning, it was the ideal project to work on.

"Use spelled Poland wrong." He said quietly over my shoulder. I practically hit myself on the silly error. Spelling Poland _Poleland_ was more than just slightly idiotic.

"Thanks," I laughed, scratching out the name and rewriting it above. By the time I had finished, it was surprisingly the end of the period. Perhaps I spent a little too much time talking and not enough working.

Muttering to myself I went up and turned the paper in on the table in front. By the time I turned around and made it back to my seat, Jasper was already gone. Next time he wouldn't be able to slip through my fingers so easily. I would make sure of that.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, a Jasper-colored blur. I could not help but focus my thoughts on him for every moment of class. Even when I was talking to Edward, or Bella, I had my mind elsewhere.

There was nothing special about him, nothing at all. And yet, when I was walking to lunch, I was only excited to talk with Jasper once more. My obsession was beginning to get carried away, but nothing could stop the roller coaster of my emotions, not even me.

When I saw their table in the back, I once again ran towards them without buying my lunch. "How do you get here so fast?" I laughed as I sat down at the circular table. I was not sure whether or not they could hear me, the lunch room was noisy. But by their smiles and nods, I guessed they could.

"Magic," Emmett replied casually. Okay, they could for sure hear me, or at least Emmett could.

I found myself nodding along to Emmett as he elaborated on the specifics of his magic, but my eyes immediately found the other person who conveniently did not have a lunch. "Jasper, want to wait in line with me? You haven't bought yet either." I invited the boy. He looked up in surprise, but before he could respond, Emmett did so for him.

"Jasper's anorexic." He said in mock sorrow. I glared at him, but Rosalie decided to do the honors for me.

"Shut up, Emmett." She growled, hitting him upside the head. I couldn't help the giggle that slipped through my lips. Emmett began to get teary-eyed, but once again he was joking. I rolled my eyes at the theatrics.

I glanced at the lunch line, which was beginning to close for the period. I knew I would have to go soon, or forfeit my right to food for the next few hours. Sending Jasper a questioning look, I stood up.

"I had a big breakfast." He explained, shaking his head as he talked. My eyes watched a strand of his curly hair flicker across one of his eyes, but I hoped he didn't notice.

"Okay then," I said before turning around and heading up to the food. I observed today's offerings before deciding immediately to opt for a bag of chips and a water bottle. Paying quickly, I was set back to the table before I missed out on the bantering.

When I returned, I listened intently to discover what I had missed out on. From what I could tell, Emmett and Edward were battling fiercely about worshiping the devil. Uh-huh, I get that.

"I tell you, it is legal right? I mean, America is all about freedom of religion and stuff." Emmett protested. He waved his hand adamantly as he spoke. Edward was shaking his head slowly.

"Do you know anything about that religion?" He asked. Emmett looked slightly bashful for a second before responding.

"Yeah,"

"You know nothing about that religion. Therefore, you have no idea what you are talking about. Neither do I for that matter. For all we know, we are talking about cannibalism here." Edward said, sounding very matter-of-fact. I laughed at their conversation. Both of them turned their heads in my direction, as if they just realized that I was there.

"If you both know nothing, why are you arguing about it? For all you know, you have just insulted an entire community of people. You should apologize." I scolded them, shaking my head in disappointment. "You never know who could be listening in."

"Like what, there's an entire community of people listening, or reading in on our conversation?" Emmett asked, incredulous.

"You never know," I warned him, continuing in the motherly tone I was using. Edward laughed, as well as Bella and Rosalie. I couldn't help but notice Jasper was zoned out, staring blankly at the wall. He had a pained expression on his face and was slightly trembling. About to voice my concern, Bella unknowingly interrupted.

"I think you are the only one who can keep up with them, Alice. We all know Rose and I can't." She said, pulling her hair behind her ear, it must be a habit. "At least we have someone to rein them in."

"And boy do they need it." Rosalie muttered under her breath, intentionally making it loud enough for all of us to hear. I laughed along with the others, but most of my attention remained on Jasper, who was still spaced out.

Pulling my focus back to the others, I looked to both Bella and Rosalie, having deemed them both worthy of my friendship. "Are you guys busy this weekend?" I asked them, hoping the answer was a no.

Looking simultaneously at each other before answering, they both shook their heads no. "Why?" Rosalie inquired.

I sighed in relief. "Well, I am kind of out of clothes, but my mom came up with this scheme that I needed to invite some friends over to go shopping with if I wanted to go," I started, fumbling around the point for a moment. "I was wondering if you wanted to come and maybe spend the night." I continued in a faster, more determined voice. But before they answered, I looked to the boys. "Sorry, you're not invited. No offense." I laughed.

"Offense taken all the same." Emmett growled, seemingly angry. I rolled my eyes at him for the second time today before turning to Bella and Rose.

"I can come, it sounds like fun." Rosalie said, with Bella nodding in agreement. I smiled, thrilled with the idea of them both coming with me. I was going to have so much fun.

Out of nowhere, the bell rung and I practically jumped out of my skin in fright, as did Jasper. Emmett laughed at me with a boisterous, carefree laugh. I ignored him, my eyes once again trained onto Jasper's. I had an excuse to be unaccustomed to the noisy bell. What was his?

Edward seemed to realize my intent gaze was focused onto Jasper because he quickly stood up, the motion causing me to be distracted.

I followed the crowd of students from the lunchroom. I had no choice but to join, practically being dragged away. I found myself walking next to Rosalie, who smiled. She seemed nice enough, but I found myself once again realizing I knew nothing about her as well. I would change that.

I saw Jasper skirting around the edges of the people, uncomfortable with the proximity. He, of course, was still my number one priority.

Objective number one: Get to know just exactly who Jasper is.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_Blood filled the air, sickening the small room with its metallic scent. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the cruel picture set in front of me. But that didn't help. I could practically taste the fowl blood in the air. I could hear the boy's unsteady breathing, reminding me of gasps for oxygen._

_I wanted to leave, to rid myself of this image. But looking around, trying to ignore the blood spatter on the wall, I realized I had to wait for this to pan out, ever so slowly. There was a point to my being here, something I had not yet seen. _

_There was a child crying, off in the distance. He sounded young, less than five at my best guess. But no mother came to comfort the baby. Instead, the room, the entire house was empty of a family. There happened to be a man in the kitchen, washing off his bleeding knuckles. He had a grim expression on his face, as though he was sorry for what he had done to the child upstairs. But he made no move to do anything about it._

_There was a woman in her bedroom, reading a book. She had her simple hair pulled back into a ponytail, clearing her eyes for reading. She was engrossed with the novel, never looking up. She was oblivious to the child, or at least indifferent._

_The most painful fact of all however, was that there were even a few miscellaneous children scattered through the rooms. One was playing with dolls, one with his computer games. But nobody cared. Nobody paid attention to the beaten child who lied unconscious in his own room._

_Nobody but the crying child. _

I awoke with a gasp, lurching for air. I was intoxicated with the heavy midst that set upon me like a cloud of depression. I tried in vain to gather my wits together, but my frenzied breath would not relax. In fact, it only increased exponentially.

Feeling sick, I stumbled over to my adjoining bathroom, barely making it there. My feet jumbled up underneath myself, feeling heavier than they had when I fell asleep.

The contents of my stomach revolted from the violent dream, making me loose dinner in a moment. I hung over the edge of the toilet, but once I finished I slid onto the bathroom floor.

Tears rolled down my face, obstructing my vision, but my eyes were closed anyway. My body shook with determination periodically, worsening the tears. My throat closed up, and my breathing worsened to the point of hyperventilating.

It was horrible, dread built up within the walls of the house, covering every square inch. The sickening smell of blood covered everything. But worst of all, the indifference was unbearable. Nobody cared, it did not make a difference.

Thoughts swirled through my head, but I could not form a complete sentence, yet alone ponder the meaning of the dream. It was too real to think about, I could smell the blood.

That thought caused me to just cry harder, and my subconscious vaguely reminded me that I needed to calm down, but I could not do so. I just cried for the boy.

It was a good half hour of solid sobbing before I deemed myself fit enough for the trip back to the bed. I got to my shaky feat and numbly maneuvered over to my bed.

After I sat there for a moment, I knew that this must be a dream. It could not be one of my periodic visions; it could not be one of my rare occurrences. It just could not be real, not like that. And how did I know this?

Because this didn't happen to kids like us. This didn't happen to the kids who lived in Forks with happy families and great lives. It didn't happen around me, around the kids I knew.

It didn't happen to Jasper Whitlock, it just didn't.

_It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. _If I kept repeating in my head, I knew it would eventually have to become true. I just had a dream last night, nothing else. It was just a simple dream. Nothing like that ever really happened. It was just a dream, it wasn't real.

The reiterated phrase began to play itself over and over. I didn't even need to think about it anymore. Ever since I had woken up this morning, it had been all I had thought about. I knew I was working myself up over nothing, because nothing had happened.

True, I did have somewhat omniscient dreams every once in a while. But I knew this could not be one of them. I had dreams about test scores and when it would rain. I did not have dreams about friends lying unconscious. It just didn't happen.

_It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. _That was all I could hope for as I opened the door from my mother's car and stepped onto the pavement in front of my school. I would be seeing Jasper first period, and I would know nothing was wrong.

When I had gotten up this morning, I realized something was wrong, my limbs ached and my heart pounded in my chest. It was the way I always felt after a vision. But when I thought back to my dreams from the previous night, I knew it must have been a fluke. I knew that, and even though I felt sick, I needed to prove myself by going to school. I needed to assure myself that Jasper was okay.

My breathing had escalated once again as I clutched my bag in hand. I didn't look up from the floor, but instead hastily made my way through the crowd. I needed to get to first period; not going would not be an option.

"Alice!" I heard someone call from behind me. I did not recognize the voice, but that didn't make much of a difference. I was absolutely terrible with remembering voices. Not turning around, a hastened my walk to a trot, and continued on my pathway.

However I was not fast enough, for seconds later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Jumping slightly, I turned around. It was Rosalie. "Hi, what do you need?" I asked, attempting to be civil. It was difficult for sure because all I wanted to do was fly through the hallways to make it to Jasper. I couldn't stand the image of him on the ground. I needed to replace it with something else

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked, confused. She was nonplused by my direct question. I much preferred to dance around the point with her, knowing it frustrated her slightly. Rosalie was of course beautiful today, as she always was. Her hair was slung back in a ponytail, with not a hair out of place. Usually, I found myself staring at her wistfully, jealous of her, but today I paid no attention. I had to leave.

"I'm fine. I'm just in a hurry." I told her, already making to leave. But as I did so, her grip on my shoulder tightened, signifying she was still talking.

"Class hasn't started yet. In fact, the warning bell hasn't rung. Are you sure you're okay?" Rosalie asked cautiously, staring at me like I was a puzzle. I ran my hand through my spiky hair, messing it up further, before answering.

"I was just going to ask the teacher a question." I lied. Lying wasn't my forte, but I was convincible enough because Rosalie let go of my shoulder and walked by my side as we made our way to my first period class.

Rosalie talked as we dodged through the crowd. She was excited about our weekend plans. As was I, but I hardly paid attention to her words. My anxiety was growing; my thoughts danced from situation to situation, none of them good.

I think Rosalie noticed the difference because she kept giving me a wary glance when she thought I was not looking. I tried to brush it off and put on a relaxed expression. What I did not do, however, was slacken my pace.

While I looked like I was at slow jog to the building, Rosalie stretched her legs and long strides, keeping up with me easily. Even at our faster gait, the walk had never seemed longer.

My heart continued to pound. I could feel it in all my extremities. Its pulse was in my head, in my fingers, and in my chest. But I walked, my eyes never left the floor as if I would find Jasper there and not intermingled in the crowd.

Interrupting Rosalie's hesitant chatter, I quickly asked her a question, one that I'd forgotten to ask about before. "Have you seeing Jasper today?" I demanded, harsher than I wanted. Rosalie looked surprised at my outburst, but said nothing. She gave me a look, much like my mother's before answering.

"No he usually gets here at the last minute. He's never early because he has to walk to school." She explained. My heart fell at her first word and practically drowned out the rest of what she had said. She had not seen him. That was all that mattered.

We were closing in on the History building, and it was all I could do not to break into a run. I had to find out whether the dream was just a dream, or if it was something more. I had to find out soon. It was within ten feet of the door. Everything would be resolved in a matter of minutes. I would realize that my worrying had no point and later laugh it off.

"Alice!" I heard my name shouted for the second time today. This time I looked for the source of the voice. It was Aaron, the boy I had sat next to my first day in History. Rosalie gave me a pointed look, laughed, and walked away.

I nearly growled at Aaron as he approached. He was keeping me from my answers. He was keeping me from what I needed at this point. "What?" I asked, none too kindly.

Aaron looked alarmed at my tone, slightly taken aback. I was about ready to start tapping my foot in impatience when he took a minute to start talking. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit next to me in History." He managed to mutter out.

I looked up to him. He was fairly short, but still several inches taller than me. "I'm going to sit next to Jasper today." I replied, not trying to be nice. I hope what I had said was true, I hoped Jasper was here.

Turning around, leaving a dejected Aaron behind, I opened the door to my History class and looked to Jasper's seat, hoping to find him there. _It wasn't real, it couldn't be real, could it?_

As I entered the classroom, my mouth stood agape. My eyes were trained onto the table where we had sat yesterday. This was impossible, unbelievably impossible.

I stood staring for several more moments, staring into the classroom. Surely this couldn't be real. I had the vision last night, and it was certainly authentic. But then, how in the world could Jasper Whitlock be sitting in first period History class, fumbling with that stupid bandage?

As if he could feel my stare on him, Jasper looked up and surveyed the room until his eyes met mine. I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything at all. I just continued to stare at him and him at me.

How in the world could he be here?

My vision last night had happened, and it was real. I was sure of it. My visions always came true. And the more prevalent fact was that this had already happened. It could not be tonight, I knew it had happened and I knew it was real.

But that didn't answer my question as to why Jasper was sitting in class, staring at me with a slightly confused look when I refused to move. He tilted his head to the side to ask me a silent question, but I would not walk towards the boy.

Was I seeing a ghost? This certainly could not be real. It just could not be. I had seen him, and although relief and shock flowed through my veins, the disbelief was prevalent.

"Miss Brandon, care to join the class?" The teacher asked, looking at me expectantly. It was then that I noticed the fact that Jasper was not the only one staring at me. Shoving my feelings down, I quickly shuffled to the empty seat next to Jasper. Once I had done so, the teacher began to talk again. "It seems that people were not paying attention in class yesterday." She scolded, shaking her head. "We are going to redo our maps, this time correctly." After filling us in on our mistakes, she went about handing us back our papers. I hardly paid attention though, continuing to stare at Jasper.

He seemed okay, obviously not bleeding from the eyes or anything like that. But how could he make such a recovery? Jasper seemed to making a point of ignoring my gaze for some reason or another and it was not until the teacher walked by and handed us our paper did I remove my eyes from him.

"You guys did an amazing job. You can work on homework or just talk if you like." She said smiling. "You have a wonderful start to the year, Alice." At least I knew I was on my teacher's good side.

When she walked away, I pushed the map to the corner of my desk and looked over to Jasper. I had to find out if I was going insane. "So how was your night last night?" I asked, gauging his reactions. He tensed a moment before answering, but that was not uncommon for Jasper. The action was somewhat familiar, even if I had not known him for long.

"It was fine." He said abruptly, not looking away from the bandage he was absentmindedly picking at.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked, changing the subject. His last answer just added to the growing confusion and I needed to find the real answers.

Jasper looked perplexed at the change in topic, but nevertheless replied with nothing but a wary tone. "I have a few." He said, not elaborating. But by the look on my face, he knew to continue. "I have twin brothers two years younger than me, a sister who's twelve, and a younger brother who is four." Jasper elaborated, not looking me in the eye.

I couldn't tell. He wasn't helping. I wanted to ask him directly, but I knew that he would think I was crazy. Try as I might, I could not think of a practical way to find the truth without it ending up in an asylum.

Jasper fiddled with his bandage for a few moments, and then asked back, "Do you have any siblings?" The length between responses was almost comical, but I still answered.

"Only if you count my best friend, Cynthia, from my old town. We practically grew up in each other's houses." I laughed, trying to release the tension. Every time I went to speak with Jasper I managed to make a fool out of myself, carefully analyzing every word.

He smiled his own sort of half-grin, making short eye contact. I tried to think of something, anything to work with, but I could not. I was stuck at this point, unsure of how to continue.

Instead of speaking, I opted for a piece of paper. But just as I was about to draw the first line in my artwork, the teacher spoke. "What you have now will be graded and taken for points. Pass them forward with both partners' name on it." She said. I was watching Jasper out of the corner of my eye as she talked. He was paying attention to the front of the classroom, but not at the teacher.

It was several minutes before the teacher was done speaking, and several more until everybody was ready to go to their next class. I had carefully organized my books in size order. Jasper, on the other hand, had two decrepit folders lying amuck under a mass of papers. He made no move to stand up.

When the bell finally rang, I pretended to busy myself with the papers in front of me, neatly stacking them into piles. By then, Jasper had slung his paper under his good arm, and began to make his way out of the class room. That was after politely saying goodbye.

I noticed at that point how Jasper was limping and that there was a bruise poking out of his long-sleeved shirt on his neck. So maybe I was right, and maybe I had not imagined everything. But I prayed that I was wrong, I begged that I was wrong, and that my theory remained unfound.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Jasper's point of view

I could not bear to go and sit at lunch, I didn't think I could make it through the crowded, noisy lunch room. So that's why when the bell finally rang to signal a break, I did not follow the crowds into the cafeteria, but instead started my slow procession towards an empty classroom.

Everything ached with each step, and I tried to keep the pain away from my expression, though I don't know how successful I was at that. I maneuvered myself into the room and slid into an empty desk.

I tried my hardest to stay upright, but I eventually slid down so my head was resting on the desk. The cold wood felt nice against my throbbing head. I closed my eyes in contentment.

Today had been a trying day. I knew I should have just skipped, but something in my mind told me not to. I should have stayed away, but a nagging little voice urged me to come.

I usually don't miss school, or at least try not to. My old man doesn't like that much, insisting I should go. Normally, on days like today I would just walk into the forest and find a nice place to rest until three.

Regretfully I admit that part of the reason behind my attendance today was the fact that Alice was here. I knew those kinds of thoughts should not be in my head, but I kept thinking about her. She was so beautiful, and graceful. It was stupid to even notice my classmates. Aside from the table of people I sit with, I didn't talk to anybody.

Even they knew little, they would be very surprised if I ever trusted them. But I knew something like that would never happen. I couldn't trust them for anything, I knew any, and every, one of them would tell the moment they found out. I suppose they would think it to be the right thing to do.

I grouped Alice into the rest of them. I could tell already that she was a caring person. She would do what she thought was right, she was very outspoken. It was comical to see such a small body with such a loud voice.

I did not understand why my thoughts always drifted to her when I sat down to think. But more recently, I found myself frequently pondering the small pixie. She seemed so different. She belonged at our table more so than any of the others, that much was clear.

I desperately wanted to close my eyes and drift off into sleep, but I kept myself awake through sheer willpower. My head was pounding, like it had been all day. Ever since I came to in the middle of the night last night, my head has had its own ongoing symphony.

Not that the pain was limited to just that area. When I thought of all my other smarting places, I had to suppress a groan. My neck had been jerked around, leaving that sore, not to mention my swollen leg.

But I suppose I have nothing to complain about. None of those injuries had anything on my arm. I was certain it was broken when I had wrapped it last week. And although I have been nursing it with what I could, I fear that I have to go to a doctor.

I had already lost most movement, and I knew that the longer I waited, the higher the risk there was that I would never be able to move my hand again, but I couldn't bring myself to go to the hospital. They would call my parents, and that would mean my dad would know. He couldn't know, not at all.

I was in a state of half-consciousness, focusing out the pain when I heard the door burst open. Immediately alert, I sprang up faster than my body could handle, bringing me right back down. I fell back into my chair and looked up to the girl who had entered so dramatically.

It was Alice, the girl I had been thinking about before. But she was not the calm and collected girl I had talked to in History this morning, she had a panicked expression on her face and she was close to hyperventilating. "Jasper!" She exclaimed.

I was puzzled as to why she was here as well as how she had gotten here. I hadn't told anybody where I was going nor had I told anyone why. So how she had found me was certainly a mystery. It was a mystery; however, I intended to ask about. "Alice?" I found myself asking, even though I was certain that was her. I stood up to my full height, moving my sore muscles.

It was then that Alice came flying at me, nearly knocking me off my feat. I was thrown back from her weight, but only because I was unsteady at the moment. Her small frame weighed hardly anything at all.

She wrapped her arms around me, and even though it hurt, I would not call it uncomfortable; her presence was nice, different. "Don't ever do that again," She whispered, clutching me with her hands. I was slightly confused by her once again, but said nothing. "I thought you had died or something." She continued. I now noticed that she was crying. Looking at her closer, I knew I was too curious but to inquire about her panic attack.

"What's wrong, Alice?"

"It's just," She started, taking a moment to lean backwards and wipe her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. "It just I thought something had happened when you didn't come to lunch right away." She sniffled.

"Why would you think that?" I questioned, tilting my head in bafflement. She gave me a pointed glare, and my thoughts immediately traveled to the fact that she knew. But I knew she didn't know. There was no way she could know. I have been keeping the secret for years with my close friends, and they just thought I was odd.

"You can trust me," was her only answer, her eyes boring into my own. It was like she knew, but she couldn't have known. There was no way she could know.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as if I had no idea what point she was trying to get across, which was partially true.

Alice was staring at me, her eyes wide with innocence, innocence I would not corrupt. For some reason, with that piercing look, I wanted to tell her everything. But I knew I could not, I never could.

When I did not answer, I watch Alice's expression grow angry, and this concerned me. I didn't want her to be angry, but I wouldn't talk.

"Fine, if you want to be the reason I go crazy, so be it." She growled menacingly. I was surprised by her sudden mood change, but she did not stop there. "Just know that you aren't keeping any secrets. I know yours, so when you feel like admitting it, do so." Without another word, she left stomping out of the room, leaving me dumbfounded.

I watched her leave. Alice was so full of energy, and while she was with me, whether physically or in my mind, I forgot that I was in pain, or sad. I was just me, just Jasper. I decided that I rather liked being around Alice.

Alice's Point of View

I stomped down the hallways, alerting quite a few people of my presence. I was sure this would get around by tomorrow. It would end up being something about the new girl being in a crazed state. But right now, I couldn't care less. I couldn't bring myself to care.

Lunch was half-way over by the time I made it to the cafeteria, but I still made myself march to the table and sit down. Maybe the others could tell by my stiff, harsh actions that I was angry because they all looked up with an expression of surprise. "Are you okay, Alice?" Bella asked with her soft, quiet voice, so different from my mood.

I had to remember that she was not the one I was mad at, so when I looked up, I did not have a scowl on my face, or at least I hoped I didn't. Bella was analyzing me, for what she was looking for, I haven't the slightest idea. I groaned and tried to keep my words coherent when I responded. "Oh, I'm just peachy." I didn't do such a good job, my sarcastic words were practically growled out.

"What did he say?" Rosalie demanded. She went to stand up. "I swear, if he yelled at you, I'm going to kill him. You wouldn't be the first that ungrateful-"

"Its what he didn't say," I sighed. This time my voice was sad, and with that tone, Rosalie sat back down, but her angry demeanor did not fade. It was as if she had personally been insulted.

Emmett and Edward both looked confused during this entire ordeal, but both seemed alert and attentive, probably making sure they didn't have to restrain one of us. "Look, I'm fine," I continued, assessing their expressions. They both visibly relaxed with my words.

"What happened?" Edward asked carefully. His green eyes were staring straight at me as if he could see right through me, down to my thoughts. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Nothing," I grumbled, not wanting to really answer the question honestly. And it was not as if I was lying, nothing happened. Jasper was far too stubborn to admit it right away. But it was his response that answered for him. I knew after I had talked to him for certain. But I also knew it would take a lot of time for him to come to me, but I was going to get him to do so.

Edward continued to look at me after I answered, staring intently as if he was still waiting for an answer. I was not going to give him one, and I think Bella recognized this, because after looking back and forth between us several times, she spoke, breaking Edwards trance. "So where was Jasper?" She asked to fill in the time. Edward's eyes immediately went to her, as they seemed to always do when she talked.

Even though Edward's attention was elsewhere, all other eyes where one me, waiting for my answer. "He was in a spare classroom." I replied, staring down at my hands.

"How did you find him there?" Rosalie asked in that same demand tone, impatiently waiting for an answer. I could only assume she was still angry at Jasper because I had been moments before.

"Lucky I guess," I lied. I opted not to tell them about how I had a vision of him in there, which was odd. It was not weird that I had a vision, but certainly different that I had one while I was awake. It was a first. However, I did not take time to think about it afterwards, rather I immediately made my way to the series of buildings he was in.

"You are one strange girl." Emmett commented, not knowing how true he was with his words. Rosalie turned to glare at him, obviously having a silent conversation with her eyes. I was not upset by his comment, but I thought it to be funny. I even laughed, causing multiple looks from my tablemates.

"How is that funny?" Edward asked.

"I get that a lot." I replied, still giggling slightly.

"No wonder." Emmett said, laughing along with me. It was in good spirit and his words did not offend me, but Rosalie continued to glare at him, refusing to laugh when everybody else did.

I like Rosalie, she seemed to care, and her anger at Jasper only proved my point. She seemed to genuinely care about me, and I did the same to her. Bella was a lot of fun as well, along with Edward. I found myself talking with them nonstop when in the same classes, whether the teacher liked it or not.

I liked my friends here, and they seemed closer than the others I had hung out with at my old school. Already after talking with them, I found my angry resolve turn positive, and that was all I could ask for from a group of friends.

"Are we still hanging out on Friday?" Rosalie asked out of the blue. I liked the change of topic and jumped on it right away.

"Only if you guys are still free," I answered, looking at both Bella and Rosalie. They both nodded once again, and I felt excitement bring me up. Today was Thursday, and that meant both shopping and sleepovers tomorrow. But I felt like I wanted more to go along with that as well. Looking to Emmett and Edward, I asked, "Are you guys free? Maybe we can meet up for pizza." I suggested, thinking of Jasper as well. I was not ready to give up on him just yet, even if he was clearly telling me nothing was wrong.

Emmett pretended to think for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. "I guess I could come, but only for the pizza," was his calculated reply.

"Me too, we could even go to my house for a bit if we want something not covered in grease." Edward said to me, even if he was clearly still looking at Bella. I think I liked talking to them apart more than together, but I was being selfish. They seemed so much happier together.

I was getting really excited for our plans, and briefly, my thoughts were not solely focused onto Jasper. Sure, he was still hovering in the corner of my mind, but I could actually think for a moment before realizing that Jasper might come too. "Does Jasper usually come to these things?" I questioned, not talking to anybody in particular, but still focusing on Edward. For some reason, I thought he might have been Jasper's closest friend above all else. And as it turns out, it was Edward who answered.

"He sometimes does, but it's rarely. I have known him since he moved here and he's been over to my house once or twice. You could try and convince him if you want." Edward said, actually looking at me for a moment, not through me or at Bella.

My mood lightened at the prospect of having to talk to Jasper for a reason rather than having to think of topics to go over. Typically, thousands of questions and comments would float through my mind the moment I looked at him.

And maybe I would even be able to question him outside of school. Things were beginning to look brighter and brighter, my mood from before all together forgotten.

My train of thoughts was interrupted by the bell, which had me jumping out of my seat once again, causing Emmett to chuckle. I rolled my eyes at him, but neither of us said anything whatsoever.

It dawned on me as I walked out of the cafeteria with my friends that I had not gotten anything for lunch at all, my thoughts had been to revolved around Jasper to think of much else. I laughed to myself as I realized that I had not gotten over my obsession and that it seemed to be escalating to a point of being ridiculous. Great, just great.

I hadn't seen Jasper all day yesterday following lunch, so when I walked into first period, I couldn't help but have my spirits high. I was waltzing through the school like I owned the place. I walked with my head held high and a huge smile on my face. I was going to convince Jasper, that was for sure.

Jasper was seated at our desk, as usual, and I was glad to see that he wasn't too angry at me. I knew I was enraged earlier, and I feared that he was as well. But if seemed to me that he was fine. He wasn't even picking at his bandage today, but rather staring at the limp fingers.

"How was your day yesterday?" I inquired happily as I sat down. Jasper looked over to me. I noticed that he looked tired. He was paler than average with purple shadows under his eyes. He must not have had a good night sleep.

"Fine," He growled out, almost glaring at me. I was taken aback by his tone. It was his fault anyway, wasn't it?

"Look, if this is about yesterday," I started, about to apologize for nothing, but Jasper cut me off.

"I'm not mad at you, just leave me alone." He said with his hardened face. He wasn't even looking at me, but back at his hand. I felt my own anger flare with those words. Leave me alone? What were we, seven?

"Okay, if you're mad I get it. But can we try to act our age?" I spat out to him. He turned to me as I had spoken. His expression was already softer.

"Sorry, I just had a bad night. Forgive me?" I was confused by his sudden mood swing, but tried to act nonchalant and forget the words from moments before. I needed him to come to this thing at Edward's house, and that meant getting on his good side.

"Sure. Well if you need to escape from your house, why don't you come to Edward's with us tonight?" I question, my anger from before completely forgotten. I didn't know what to think about his night. If what I thought was true happened, well I should be worried. But Jasper didn't look any worse off, so maybe I was wrong. I thought it had been confirmed earlier, but I was back to questioning myself. Maybe I was just imagining things.

Jasper was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking things over, and surprisingly, he agreed. "Yeah, what time?" He asked. Thrilled with the prospect of me not having to beg him to come, I was practically jumping in my seat.

"We haven't set the specifics; we're deciding them at lunch." I beamed to him. Before he could respond, the teacher began to talk, and it was not partner work today. We listened to her speech for the better part of an hour, until the class was over .The bell rang, but I did not leave the class until Jasper too was ready.

His movements were stiff and jerky while we walked and I couldn't help but think that it had happened again last night. I walked closer to him down the halls, hoping he would feel comfort from the proximity. I couldn't even begin to guess how he felt.

I waited for him to say something, but to my disappointment, he remained silent. I turned into my next period class with a wave to Jasper, who nodded in response. Our discussions were so odd, so weird. I enjoyed them, and I liked Jasper more and more, but I couldn't help but wonder if he thought of me as an annoyance.

Jasper was so different. I was constantly thinking around him, trying to get him to feel welcome. But it was hard, I think the more I talked to him, the more he wanted to get away.

Bella was already seated when I entered the classroom. I went to sit down next to her, my thoughts still revolving around Jasper. I think she picked up on my pensive mood because she did not say anything, but rather let me think.

It turns out that today was a partner day in English as well. We were to complete a worksheet together discussing the events in a book we have read. I looked up to Bella after the teacher gave us the sheet. Bella picked up the paper and began to read the first question. "How does the character's relationship with his parents grow throughout the book?" She read.

"Does it matter?" I asked glumly, sighing before she could respond. Bella took my words as prompting to ask what was wrong.

"Did something happen?" She asked, looking at me with wide, confused eyes. My mood had been changing so much today, I didn't know what to feel. One second I was angry, the next happy. I was what Jasper was, and he was an emotional rollercoaster.

"No," I sighed again, not knowing what to say. Bella, as understanding as she was, nodded. We made our slow procession through the questions, answering each one as accurately as possible. Even then, we finished far before everybody else. But I could only guess it was because of Bella. She was practically a genius when it came to English.

"Can Jasper come?" Bella asked when we done. I laughed at her dead on assessment of my mood, causing Bella to smile. "I can take that as a yes. That's good. We never see him outside of school."

"I don't understand why." I mumbled under my breath, and I don't think Bella heard because she didn't reply to it.

"I think if anybody could have convinced him, it would have been you." Bella grinned. I smiled back, wondering if she was right about that.

"You think so? Jasper seems so out of it." I said, still somewhat to myself. Bella thought a second before responding to me.

"Even though it may not seem like it, Jasper seems happier recently. I think he likes you." She laughed, blushing afterwards. "The question is, do you like him?"

It was a no brainer question. I was fully engrossed by everything Jasper did, thinking about him constantly. It probably wasn't healthy. But at least what I thought about him was nothing wrong. Most of my thoughts revolved around his intriguing mystery. I felt some compulsion to solve it. But answering Bella's question, I replied, "I think I do. I can't stop thinking about him." I blushed.

Bella blushed too, as if she did because I did. We shared a look and started to giggle together. "We sound like a bunch of gossiping school girls." Bella said between breaths.

"We kind of are Bella." I admitted to her.

"I resent that." She replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. With that, we both started to laugh again. Several of the students nearby gave us looks and the teacher shushed us both.

Falling quiet, we both looked at each other knowingly. My friends could always make me happy.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jasper's POV

Avoiding several looks, I shuffled through the hallways to the cafeteria. It was lunch, and even though I agreed to Alice, I didn't want to go. I felt no better than I did yesterday. I felt worse in fact. But through it all, I somehow got roped into this.

Whenever Alice asked for anything, I am sorry to admit, I found myself complying. I had no intentions on going to lunch this morning, but here I was, making my way there.

People were smiling and meeting up with each other like old friends, laughing with their head thrown back. I dodged them all and continued through the crowds.

School was never pleasant, but that was mostly because of the vast difference between me and the other students. I couldn't even sympathize with their meaningless problems.

At least Alice has had the decency to refrain from going on and on about her own troubles. I found myself liking her for that reason. Even when she did non-stop interrogate me, it was about me. Usually I tried to avoid talking about myself, but Alice was different. I found myself more comfortable around her than anybody else.

Not that the others weren't nice, Edward was my best friend ever since I moved here, and I still talked to him. But recently, he has gotten more prying, and I have had to back off. It started a while back when I went to school with a black eye. He had kept asking question after question. He got suspicious.

That's what I was worried about with Alice. I had to disregard her comments from before. There was no way she knew, and it was going to stick to that. If she knew, bad things would happen. If she starts to get curious, I know it will be the end, even before it started.

But for now, we can be friends. Bella and Edward leave me alone, and Emmett and Rosalie try to as well. It's as simple as that, and it will hopefully stay that simple. For now, Alice's arrival has been a good thing. I don't want that to change. I don't want her to be the one to ruin it all.

How ironic would that be? If the one who has been the nicest to me ends up breaking everything I have built. Somehow, I doubted Alice would do so, but you can never be so sure. For all I know, her coming could be my ultimate downfall.

Someone passed a little close for comfort, and I had to dodge him. The quick movement sent a sharp stinging in all my sore spots, but I tried to remain oblivious. I was almost to the cafeteria, and once there, I could sit and relax.

I swung one of the doors open to be greeted with a cacophony of shrieking, giggling, whispering, you name it. It was worse than the hallways, but I knew that if I sat down, things would be okay. I could retreat into myself at the table and tune everybody else out.

But of course I had no such luck, when do I ever? When I slid into one of the empty seats, a few minutes later than everybody else, all eyes were on me. I met one gaze, the one with unaltered adoration in her eyes. It was nice to think that Alice actually liked me as much as I liked her, even if we could never go any farther than that. I felt gratitude in the fact that people actually could still be around me, that Alice actually thought I was nice. She probably only did because she might know. She was so nice, that would make sense.

It was more likely the fact that I might be worth saving. In fact, if she knew about me, that would just add to my point. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Surely someone as pretty and smart as Alice would not be inclined to like me, yet alone be around me.

I was thoroughly surprised when she walked into the lunch room and sat down with us her first day. She seemed like a girl to hang out with Jessica, or Lauren. She did not seem like someone who would enjoy hanging out with Bella, no offense to her.

I had first seen her in History that morning, talking in front of the class. She seemed so confident in front of others, so energetic. And yet, she did not go on and on, but kept it short. I had spent the entire period watching her next to Aaron from the back. Alice was different than everybody else.

"Where have you been?" Emmett asked once I was fully seated. I decided to go with truth rather than lie, seeing no point in making something up.

"I was just walking slow, no reason."

"Really slowly." Emmett responded. I couldn't tell if it was just a repetition or a exclamation of disbelief, so I ignored it completely. I was quiet, and for a moment, so was the rest of the table. That was, of course, before Alice spoke up. She was peppered with life and certainly did not seem dull.

"So what time are we meeting? Do we know where?" She asked, her eyes sparkled with jubilation, a unique look.

It was Edward who answered, seeing as it was at his house. "How about my house at six thirty or so?" He inquired in his usual formal tone.

When everybody else nodded their head in consent, I remained the spectator. I would show up if and when it was possible. Hopefully I won't bum Alice out, but it was all I could offer.

I couldn't say the odds of my appearance where high, but I would do what I could. There was always the possibility that I would not be able to come for obvious reasons.

There was always another option. If I decided to just not go home, my arrival would be for certain. The only problem with that would be what was waiting for me when I got home.

Alice Point of View

I danced around my room trying to find the best outfit possible for tonight. It was a difficult task, but I was up for it. I shimmied around one of my shelves to look behind. There, I found two pairs of gloves and a floor length skirt. That was not going to work.

I moved to my more frequented area to discover exactly what I was looking for. Letting out a squeal of excitement, I hurriedly slid the skirt and matching shirt on with a jacket on top. My look was complete, as simple as that.

Usually, I would have to do more, but that was one of the benefits of short hair. I never stood in front of the mirror idly playing with this hair or that. Actually, most of my look was comprised of running my hands through my hair multiple times to get the messy, spiky look.

When I finally made my way downstairs, I had five minutes to spare. Rosalie said she would pick me up and save me from the embarrassing incident from before. She was horrified to hear that I had been driven by my mom to my first social event in Forks.

My mom and dad where not home at the moment, leaving me free to pace back and forth on the first floor. I mused quietly to myself, occasionally glancing at the clock. Time seemed to slow down, as it always does when you are waiting for something good.

I decided it was not too cold to wait outside so I opted for wider spacing room. Not that inside was not enough, I had plenty of room. But outside was preferable. Anybody who happened to look outside would have seen a pacing teenage girl with a serious expression on her face.

I was pensive, but only because I had time. Later, I would be all fun and games. Of course my first sleepover in Forks would have to be full of partying. I didn't even have a choice.

I didn't know how hyper Rosalie and Bella got at sleepovers, but I knew for sure this was going to be awesome. I had been psyching myself up all day. I could hardly wait.

But going to Edward's sounded like equal fun. I was going to meet Mr. Cullen, my dad's coworker, not to mention see Jasper outside of school for the first time yet. I was determined that he would come. He didn't have any other choice, that was for sure.

As I paced, I was aware of the road and each time a car would pass by, I would look to the driver. I knew Bella's car, but only because it was hard to miss. I had absolutely no idea what kind of car Rosalie drove.

That was why when Rosalie pulled up, I was completely awestruck. I had no idea what kind of car it was, but it was red and shiny, and that was all that mattered. My jaw was hanging and I swear I saw Rosalie laugh at my expression inside the car. "Are you ready to come?" She yelled, rolling down her window.

I nodded, and then proceeded to hop enthusiastically into the passenger seat. Rosalie was relaxed in her seat, one hand on the wheel despite the fact that we were not moving.

I gave her a large grin before motioning her to start. Rosalie nodded in conformation before complying. We pulled out of the driveway and were heading down the road. "Your car is nice." I commented with little to say. I was impressed with the interior as well as the exterior. Rosalie looked please by my comment.

"Yeah, I fixed her up myself." She said with pride. I gasped at this revelation. Rosalie did not seem like the one to fix cars up in her free time.

"That's awesome." I said, looking around in disbelief. Rosalie's grin grew even more.

"You should have seen her before." She continued. I could understand her pride in this accomplishment, but I did not know much of what we were talking about. Not knowing what to say, I remained quiet for a moment, thinking of the questions I could ask.

Rosalie beat me to the punch line though, and I had no chance to ask anything of her. "So have you been to anybody's house but Bella's?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the road.

"Not yet, this is my second." I laughed, embarrassed that I had no other offers. Rosalie must have sensed this because she gave me a look before responding.

"Yeah, I have been busy all week. So I guess that leaves Emmett and you don't really want to go to his house. Let's just say he has a lot of brothers that are very enthusiastic about their videogames."

I stared at her for a moment, picturing six rampaging Emmetts all in one house. That was too much to imagine. Just think of the utter destruction. I shuddered. Rosalie saw this and chuckled.

"They are all exactly like him."

"Sounds fun." I managed to sputter out, still trying to rid myself of that thought. "Are they younger or older?"

Rosalie did not pause, she knew her information. "He has an older brother who is seventeen, a younger brother who is thirteen, and the youngest who is twelve. All boys."

"I can't wait to meet them." I said, staring out the window. Rosalie was amused by my reaction and continued to laugh all the way to Edward's house.

When we pulled up, I could tell it was his. It looked like the house that a doctor owned, not to be stereotypical seeing how my own dad is a doctor. But it was huge, as in gigantic huge. It was more of a mansion than a house.

Rosalie was obviously comfortable coming over because she simply opened the car door and stepped out. I followed her up the small staircase to the large door and waited as she knocked.

I impatiently tapped my foot waiting for someone to come to the door. I was even debating whether or not to ring the doorbell once again. For a moment, I would give anything to reach out and press the small, round button that seemed to be calling my name. But somehow, I managed to wait through it all. It was excruciating, but Rosalie stood there as if she did this every day. I envied her patience.

Eventually, the door opened to reveal a woman that barely looked old enough to be Edward's mom. She had caramel hair and a warm smile, but did not look any more than thirty years old. She did not even look that much like Edward. He must take after his dad. As that thought crossed my mind, I almost hit myself on the head. Edward had mentioned the fact that he was adopted before. It had slipped my mind.

Esme approached Rosalie, and after enveloping her in a hug, she looked to me. "You must be Alice." She smiled. She gestured for me to also give her a hug, which I gladly did so. "Edward has talked all about you."

"I have not." I heard Edward's indignant voice before he appeared from behind the door seconds later. He had a smile on his face and Bella in hand. Before entering the house, I looked back to the driveway only to spot Bella's not-so-inconspicuous car. How could I have missed that?

I entered behind Rosalie, admiring the vast insides of Edward's house. People told me our house looked nice, but it was nothing compared to this. "Your house is beautiful." I commented to either Edward's mom or Edward.

It was Edward's mom who answered before he could. "Thank you, I love decorating houses." She responded politely. I had to hold back a laugh from Edward's expression, which was beginning to look borderline crazy. "You can call me Esme." She talked on, seemingly ignorant of Edward.

I nodded and smiled, looking around for anyone else. "Has Jasper and Emmett gotten here yet?" I asked having not seen them.

"Not yet. Emmett called about five minutes ago saying he was on his way. I think he got held up by his parents." Edward answered.

"He probably hasn't cleaned his room yet. Have you seen it?" Bella asked, laughing. I shook my head in reply. "You really should, it's horrible." She continued, walking over to the couches. Her stride was still uneven from the boot she was wearing.

"I'll have to remember that." I chuckled. I nimbly dodged around the room over to Bella, sitting down at the same time as her.

"We haven't heard from Jasper yet, right?" Esme asked, looking around to see if anyone would contradict her. I was silent, praying that someone would object.

Nobody did. Surprisingly, everybody looked to me. I felt my stomach drop and I looked to the floor. I shook my head. "I haven't talked to him since school." I sighed, not looking up.

"I'm sure he'll show up soon." Esme responded with a sanguine smile on her face. "I'm going to go start on dinner. Call me if you need anything." She left into an adjoining room, leaving me, Rosalie, Edward, and Bella sitting on the couches.

I didn't know what to say, my thoughts were still wrapped around the concept of Jasper not being here. He said he would be here, and I expected him to be. I tapped my foot in anticipation.

"I can't wait for tonight." Rosalie said with an impish grin. I smiled back, giving my own version of the expression, even if I didn't feel that way yet. Bella looked moderately horrified by us and shuddered dramatically.

"I think I am regretting ever agreeing to this." She sighed, shaking her head. I was slightly confused by this.

"Do you not like shopping?"

"Bella isn't the social norm." Rosalie answered for her, laughing. Bella mockingly glared to her. Edward, of course, defended her.

"She just isn't a conformist." He huffed, pulling Bella into a hug. Rosalie responded, and thus started the battle of the words. Eventually, me and Bella tuned everything out and just sat there.

The doorbell rang about five or ten minutes later. I sprung up from my spot and rushed to the door. Hopefully, it was Jasper. But as I opened the door up, I was greeted by Emmett's smiling face. Trying not to show my disappointment, I gave him a big smile. "Took you long enough."

"I got held up, okay?" He laughed, giving me a hug. "Are you getting shorter?" He asked when he realized I barely made it to his shoulder.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Edward said moving over towards us.

"Like who? I'm twice your size." Emmett flexed his muscles. He really was huge. I watched him with a smile on my face, but I couldn't help but wish Jasper was here. I looked hopefully outside with no luck. He was nowhere in sight.

"Have you talked to Jasper?" I asked, interrupting them mid-banter. Emmett looked down to me questioningly.

"Isn't he here yet?" He inquired, looking around.

"Not yet." Rosalie replied, moving over to Emmett's side. The two looked nice together, perfect compliments to one another.

Esme walked into the room. This time, she was wearing an apron, looking the part of a working mom. "Hi, Emmett. How have you been?"

"Fine Mrs. C."

"That's good. Are you hungry yet?" She continued, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Always." Emmett said devilishly. We laughed, but despite the happiness, I kept looking to the door.

It was twenty minutes later when the doorbell finally rang. I was once again the first one up. I sprinted to the door and flung it open.

It was then that I was greeted with the exact sight I wanted to see. At the door, there was a tall, scrawny boy with sandy blond hair and slightly oversized clothes. It was the boy that I have come to know as my secret crush, who I always talk to in my classes. At the door, I saw Jasper. Finally.

Jasper POV-

It had been enduring; my walk to the Cullen's house was not pleasant in the slightest. As always in Forks, it started to rain. By the time I was halfway there, I had been thoroughly soaked. Needless to reiterate, it was not pleasant.

I had not gone home after school. I decided to go to the library instead. The town had only a few options, and if I wanted to guarantee my arrival tonight, I knew I could not go home.

But I was late; I left about ten minutes late. That, and the fact I had forgotten about my limping gait, delayed my visit at least half an hour.

It was a relief when I made it up to the Cullen's doorstep and dutifully rang the doorbell. The time it took for someone to answer was ridiculous. No sooner had I pressed the doorbell, I was greeted with Alice's shining face.

She could not have looked happier. A grin took up at least half of her face, but she still managed to look pretty. I watched as her eyes lit up in excitement. She was practically bouncing in place when I stepped inside.

"What took you so long?" She demanded with a harsh voice. However, the effect was lost due to the fact she had continued to smile as she scolded me. In truth, her voice was not all that coarse, in was smooth as she talked, no matter what animated expression she put into it. I had a bad day, but I could almost forget about it looking at the small pixie of a friend I saw before me. I could not help but give a wry grin at her actions, even if she was not as pleased with me. "You could have at least called." Alice continued to scold me. I was shaking with laughter as she spoke, happier than I had been previously.

"Sorry about that." I managed to say, sounding completely serious. Alice dropped any pretence she had about being angry and wrapped her arms around me.

This was the second time we had hugged. And like before, I felt myself tense. It was more out of habit than anything else, because also like before, I enjoyed feeling her small body in such close proximity. I could protect her when she was close.

I had no idea where that thought had come from. Surely Alice did not need protecting, or at least from anything I could handle. But my thoughts conflicted with my feelings and I did not shed away from her touch.

"Hey Jasper," Edward said, alerting me to his presence. For a moment, I had completely forgotten that this was his house. Forgetting was not something I was accustomed to. I looked up to Edward, who was standing halfway between the couches and the door. He must have been on his way when he stopped.

Everybody was not only already here, but sitting down. I gave an awkward smile in their direction knowing they had been waiting for me. It had been so long since I had last talked to friends outside of school. Alice stood by my side as silence enveloped the room for a moment. They were probably waiting for my response. Nevertheless, I remained quiet. I suddenly realized how bad of an idea it was to come over. I felt my body unwillingly shy backwards.

To save us from a prolonged awkward moment, intentionally or not, Esme walked into the room. Gladly, all of the attention turned towards her and I was free from the imaginary scrutiny. "Carlisle will be here any moment and we will start dinner. That sound good?" She asked, addressing everybody. However, her gaze was on me. I shifted from one foot to another several times before responding when nobody else did.

"Yes, Ma'am." I nodded. When she smiled, but waited for me to continue, I did so, whether I wanted to or not. "It's nice seeing you again."

Esme smile brightened. "You are always so polite." She looked over to Edward. "Maybe you should take notes." She laughed. Edward rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

"Will do, Mom." Edward chuckled moving back to what I assumed was his original position. Alice motioned for me to follow her as she practically skipped her way to the couches. She did not sit down on them, but opted for the floor. Following her lead, I sat down to, but a foot or two away from her. Pretending to be oblivious, Alice scooted closer to me.

I smiled once again at her antics before tuning into the conversation at hand. Emmett was arguing with Edward, a novel concept. "I still think school should start at about noon, maybe later." Emmett sighed with conviction. Edward shook his head in response.

"What about the kids with extracurricular activities? Are they going to have to stay at school until eight at night?" Edward countered with his trademark half-smile.

"They can just stay up later. It's their fault for wanting to join debate club or whatever."

"But what would be the point of sleeping in if you had to stay up late? You would get the same amount of sleep, and more hours of daylight if school started earlier."

I started to tune them out only slightly. I focused my attention to Alice, Rosalie, and Bella who were engaged in their own conversation. I had not even realized they had been talking earlier because of their quiet voices.

I could not hear what they were saying, so I merely sat contently waiting for nothing. Mr. Cullen would be getting home soon, so nobody thought of actually starting an activity. The moment I thought of Carlisle, I heard the front door open and close behind me, as did Esme. She walked into the room and greeted her husband.

"Why don't you wash up? Dinner is on the table and we're waiting for you." She said softly in her typical motherly voice. I felt a pang of envy for what Edward had. He was blessed with a mother and father who came directly out of the TV and into real life. They were perfect in every sense of the word.

"I'll be back in a minute." Mr. Cullen responded, taking his workbag up the stairs. I watched him leave before returning my attention back to Alice. She was still talking to Bella and Rosalie, but the moment I turned my gaze onto her, she looked over to me.

"Too bad you can't join us shopping." Rosalie laughed noticing Alice's attention. I chuckled slightly, not wanting to be rude. Bella shook her head glumly.

"I would switch places with you anytime." She sighed. "I had no idea what I was getting into." Bella was different than everybody else. Actually, I suppose everybody I hung out with was different. Somehow, we had managed to become friends because of our differences to the rest of the teenage population. Other than that, we had few similarities.

"You'll come to love shopping." Alice assured her, confident in herself. I watched them interact, becoming quite the bystander. But I felt no need to jump in, in fact I would prefer not to. I was not socially adept, I had always been shy. Now, it has gotten to the point of ridiculousness, but it was my preference.

Carlisle came trotting down the stairs a few minutes later and, without speaking, everybody knew to file into the kitchen to serve up plates. I looked at the steaming food Esme had prepared. I could feel my stomachs doing flips the moment I looked at it.

Because my diet was probably one not recommended by doctors, when given the choice to eat large quantities, I usually got sick, but I knew as I looked at the delicious meal that I had to have some, not matter the consequences.

I was last in the procession to grab a plate, so I picked up the remaining serving. Edward's family was used to big groups coming over for dinner, so they had a large table. From what I have heard, Esme often invited groups over, so the table could sit ten.

I sat between Alice and Emmett, carefully sliding into my chair. Emmett had already begun to dig in. Esme looked please by his reaction. Emmett could make eating garbage look enjoyable.

I clumsily picked up my fork with my bandaged hand in an attempt to eat. It was not only too hard, but too painful to continue in that fashion so I immediately switched to my other hand. This incident did not go unnoticed by Carlisle, who was looking at me with a steady gaze. I felt uncomfortable with the look and immediately turned to listen to the conversation.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Emmett exclaimed, shoving forkfuls of food into his mouth. Alice wholeheartedly agreed, shaking her head in exaggerated motions.

"It's really good, thank you." Rosalie nodded, agreeing with both Alice and Emmett. Esme smiled brightly, she seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.

For several moments, the only sound echoing through the room was the scraping of fork against plate. Emmett's mouth was too full to talk and nobody else was going to take the initiative. That is, until Mrs. Cullen decided to spark up a conversation. And of course, with my luck, she chose to do so with me. Great.

"So what made you late Jasper?" She asked with kindness and sincerity in her voice. I almost wanted to gag at the abundance of sugar laced in her tone, but I kept it to myself.

Before answering, I thought for a moment to come up with the best way to respond to her question. I had to be quick on my feet though, so I only debated for a quick second. "I lost track of time at the library." I replied honestly. Maybe I didn't mention about my tenuous, walking limp that delayed my way, but she didn't need to know.

"Man, you are so weird." Emmett said, scoffing at my answer. Emmett was not quite the reader, but whatever floats your boat. I flashed a quick grin in his direction to indicate that I had no hard feelings. After that, my gaze was immediately redirected back to my plate. I flexed my fingers waiting for Esme response. Luckily, I did not have to wait long.

"I think reading is a good activity, one that you should pick up." She scolded, looking pointedly at Emmett, who just shook his head.

"That's a lost cause." Rosalie smirked, rubbing Emmett's arm. It was easy to forget that they were together. Although they were not secretive of their relationship, they didn't have that same clingy factor that Edward and Bella had.

"Oh my gosh!" Alice exclaimed randomly in the middle of conversation. I jumped at the sound, hopefully unnoticeably. My stomach dropped and for some reason, I became nervous. It was silly. I knew that it was just Alice, but I had couldn't help feeling that way.

"What is it, Alice?" Carlisle asked worriedly.

"Sorry, I just looked at the time. My mom is expecting us soon. We should get going." She said, rushing her words. There was an apologetic note in her voice that was blatantly obvious.

"That's fine, hun." Esme answered quickly. She stood up, the rest of us doing the same. Esme walked Alice, Bella, and Rosalie to the door. "Drive safely and call when you get home. The roads are slick around here."

"We'll be fine, Mrs. Cullen." Rosalie pacified her, reaching out to give her a hug. Bella and Alice did the same.

I waved goodbye, disappointed to see them leave so soon. I was hoping they would stay longer. But I suppose it was for the best, the sooner I got home, the less trouble I would get in. Just before they were about to leave, Alice turned and rushed to give me a hug.

For the third time, I gave her the same reaction. I wished she couldn't feel all my muscles tighten in fear, but I am sure she did. Alice paid no attention to the fact and responded with a large smile a quick wave in my direction. I watched as she left in a hurry, following Rosalie and Bella on their way out.

In a matter of seconds, it went from being all eight of us to now the boys and Esme. As the door closed, the five of us stood quietly for a moment. "Hey, sorry to bail out at the last second, but I should get going too." Emmett said pointing at the door with his thumb.

"Well same goes to you too, Emmett." Carlisle said. Emmett smiled and pulled on his shoes. When he, too, was gone, all of the Cullens turned to me.

"I can help you guys clean up." I mumbled, feeling nervous. Esme gave me a kind smile.

"No need for you to do that, I will have to spotless in a little bit. Why don't you and Edward hang out? It's been forever since you were last here."

"Uh… Thanks." I replied, looking over to Edward. I should have left when I had the chance. Edward was all into getting me to admit things when it was just me and him. Esme walked back into the kitchen, leaving me Carlisle and Edward standing next to the door.

"What happened to your arm?" Carlisle asked, ever the doctor. I had to keep myself from groaning at the repeated question. I couldn't tell the truth, and repeating the same false story got somewhat annoying.

"I fell." I said simply, not bothering to expand. Carlisle looked dubious, and with that expression, I decided it was my time to leave as well. "Actually, I have to go too." I said uncomfortably.

"Well have a nice night, Jasper." Carlisle replied nodding his head.

"Oh, I will." I said, stepping out. I knew what was waiting for me when I got home. My dad got mad when I didn't tell him where I was. And it was all for nothing. Sure, I had an okay night, but I didn't even get to talk to Alice.

As I made my way down the narrow street, my breathing increased and I started to fidget with my hands. This was why I got nervous at every sound.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Alice Point of View

I was in my room currently, bopping to the music. It really was fun to dance with another person, and dancing with Rosalie was a blast. We had turned up a random song on the radio, and as of now, we were acting like ten-year-olds.

Nothing is wrong about acting like children, right? Well, Bella didn't agree. She was shaking with laughter on the bed. Her foot prevented her from jumping to the beat with us. Not that she would if she could, Bella was not quite that graceful, or so I assume.

"Spin, Rose! Spin!" I yelled, hollering over the music. She and Bella were complete opposites. She elegantly spun in a neat circle, her loose shirt billowing out. "Again, Again!" I continued to order her.

After about five rotations, she slowed to a stop, catching her balance. "Did I tell you to stop?" I demanded of her with a grin. Rosalie shook her head.

"Let's see you do better." She replied with mirth. She shouldn't have said that. I gave her an impish smile before I began to spin on my own. At the beginning, I was counting, but after ten pirouettes, I decided to stop numbering them.

Gracefully, I watched as the world spun around me. I couldn't help the fact that my grin widened with each turn. Euphoria bubbled up inside of me, threatening to spill over. I wanted to sing with the music, bounce up and down, or spend my built up energy some way.

When I eventually slowed to a stop, my skirt continued to spin until it ruffled back to place. I still had a large grin on my face and I certainly wasn't dizzy. "Beat that." I said, bending over from my laugher. Rosalie's eyes were wide.

"Do you dance?" She asked. She still looked surprised.

"I guess I have always been able to dance." I smiled. That was an understatement. I was into five hours of dance a day back in middle school. I quit later, but I have always had a natural talent for it.

"You are so lucky." Bella said enviously. "I can't manage to walk a straight line." She looked down sourly to her encased foot. She wasn't exaggerating either.

The song ended just as Bella had spoken, leaving silence for a moment. I looked over to the radio, which also had a clock. "My mom's going to pester us about going to bed early." I said glumly. "She's kind of strict."

"How early is early?" Rosalie asked, flicking back her hair. She went to go sit on the bed next to Bella.

"Like within the next fifteen minutes." I muttered. And it was almost magic, because just as I had uttered those words, I heard my mom's voice echoing from downstairs.

"Girls, you should be getting to sleep!" She called. Me, Rosalie, and Bella looked to each other at the same moment and burst into laughter.

"Don't worry; we can still talk, right?" Bella asked looking between me and Rosalie. I nodded my conformation before we all went to our respective clothing piles. I snuck into my vast closet and looked to my pajama section.

I opted for a pair of fleece pants even if they were several inches too long. I slide a shirt and sweatshirt on and emerged from the adjoining room. I must have taken longer than realized because both Rosalie and Bella were dressed.

After finishing getting ready, I sat on the floor next to Bella. Rosalie was standing before the mirror fixing her hair into a perfect ponytail. After she, too, had finished, she sat down to make a triangle on the floor.

"So who do you like?" She asked as she situated herself in a comfortable position. It took me a moment exactly who and what she was asking.

"Are we back in Junior High?" I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Although I have to agree with Alice in that aspect, isn't it obvious?" Bella asked speaking to Rosalie. "She likes the odd man out." She continued with a blush.

"I knew it!" Rosalie exclaimed looking to me. "Jasper, huh?" She giggled.

"I have not confirmed anything!" I said indignantly, blushing along side with Bella. Rosalie held me with her gaze. "Okay," I admitted. "I mean, he's pretty cute." I laughed. I think we have successfully played the roles of adolescent girls.

"Do you have any of the dirt on him?" Rosalie asked, playing along with the immaturity. Bella was shaking with laughter at Rose's supposed seriousness.

"Aren't you loyal to your friends." She said, but otherwise remaining quiet.

"Well she has to know these things. Anyways, Alice is my friend." Rosalie replied, defending herself.

"She's right." I agreed with Rosalie, wanting to hear the story. Bella shook her head but had a smile on her face.

"Okay, so we met him in…" Rose trailed off momentarily. "Eighth grade?" She asked Bella, who nodded in confirmation. "Eighth grade and Edward invited him to our table. He had been sitting by himself for several weeks. He was a new student. He never talked, he still barely does. But anyways, he and Edward were really close for a while until high school. Something happened, I don't know what. Other than that, he never hangs out with us outside of school. Today was the first time he had in a while. He flinches at loud sounds or quick movements and he is about as antisocial as you can get." She paused. "Can you think of anything else?" She inquired to Bella.

"That about sums him up." She nodded. "We don't actually know all that much about him other than that he has a bunch of siblings."

I stayed quiet for a moment, taking in the information. Most of it I already knew, but at least it was confirmed through somebody else. I nodded. "Makes sense." I agreed.

"She still likes him." Rosalie giggled, pretending to whisper to Bella. I rolled my eyes to the both of them.

I heard footsteps up the stairs. All three of us sprung to our respective sleeping spots, pretending to be asleep. My mom opened the door. "You guys forgot to turn out the lights. It helps things look authentic." She laughed, having figured us out. "Good night." She turned off the light and closed the door.

"Night guys." I said, rolling over to fall asleep. And that I did.

_It was the same house, the house from before. Except for now, I was not in the bedroom from before. In fact, I was not following the boy at all. There was a man. He had stocky features and was taller than his son. His focus was solely on the contents of the refrigerator he was looking in._

_But he didn't find what he was looking for. He slammed the door shut and made his way up the stairs. I knew before he even got there what his destination was. He threw open the door to the room. And like before, I was in the boy's room._

_There was no sound this time, and even the vision would blur periodically. But I could get more than I wanted to do. The man held up a fist in anger, threatening the boy. Like a child, the boy cowered. Angry words were thrown in his direction, spewing from the man's mouth. _

_Everything shimmered, and I was later in time. I was sitting at a park, next to the boy. His frame was shaking, from what I did not know. This time, I could hear his shuddered breathing, sounding borderline panicked. The boy had his eyes closed. He was oblivious to the world. _

_You might assume he was sleeping, or maybe just thinking. That is, until you saw the trickle of blood coming from above his hairline and tainting his pale skin. The boy was clearly not sleeping._

Once again I was awoken from my dream violently. I opened my mouth to scream until I realized the consequences of my actions. It took me a moment to gather my senses until I was coherent enough to think. Once I was, I fumbled with the covers until I had managed to clear myself of them.

I gave a quick glance to Rosalie and Bella; their dreams were not plague with the past, present, and future. They did not have to deal with what I did. I left their sleeping forms as I exited my room and entered the hallway.

I had to remind myself not to be sick from the sight I had once again witnessed. I hurried down the stairs trying to be as quiet as possible. The house was eerily quiet. My feet pattered against the hard floor until I rushed to my shoes. Pulling them on and hastily exiting through the front door, I was free to be on my way.

It was pitch black outside, but I was not afraid. My feet now moved with determination despite the fact my head was ringing from earlier. To be completely honest, I had no idea where I was going, but somehow I followed an unknown trail to my destination.

I shuddered at the memory of the punches, the kicks. Everything was so heartless. It was as if a machine was just following out the actions. But it had been the expression on the father's face afterwards that surprised me most. As the boy looked up to his dad through his swollen eyes, I saw regret plainly written on his face.

I tried to shove my thoughts away from the events I had seen and continue on my way. There was reason I was heading this way, and I knew exactly my purpose.

My only hope was that I would be welcomed there and not shunned. I was not supposed to know, not at all. I was not supposed to be psychic either, but I was. I knew I had yet another vision; however, this time, I did not immediately go back to bed to forget it. I knew that I had to do something.

It was the second time I had witnessed this, and I knew I could provide comfort to the boy. I knew Jasper would accept me, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I shivered from the cold outside. I should have grabbed a heavier jacket rather than my pajamas. I was glad I had worn my warmest pair, but even they could not give me much protection from the elements.

It was even misting, but when was it not in Forks. I tried to keep my thoughts solely on the weather and away from my vision. If I did that, I would not have to face it until I saw it with my eyes, and not just with my mind.

My feet hurriedly placed themselves one after another as I continued. I was getting closer by the second. It was only a matter of time until I got where I wanted to go. It was not safe to be out here, but in this case, the pros far outweighed the cons.

It was quiet outside as well and I was the only one making any sound whatsoever. I didn't feel any of the customary fear associated with being outside alone at night, but I was hardly feeling much of anything.

It was several minutes until I made it where I was going and only then did I realize exactly where I had been heading.

I was at the park, the one I had seen Jasper at. I scanned the empty swings and the unused slide until my eyes were greeted to the form of a solitary boy hunched over on the picnic table. He was sitting on the table itself with his feet resting on the bench.

I silently skimmed my way over there, not entirely believing I was not dream. As I approached, Jasper looked up in alarm. I saw his face, which even through the dark, was covered in blotchy bruises. His lip was cut and I knew his visibility was impaired. Nevertheless, he recognized me. "Alice?" He questioned, not believing himself.

I felt like breaking down. I was in way over my head. I started to sob, standing there in the middle of a playground at night. Jasper made no move to get up, but simply watched me. I knew the pain was what stopped him, so I hesitantly walked over to sit on the bench.

I was full out hysterical now, my entire body shaking. "What's wrong, Alice?" Jasper's voice said from above me. This did nothing to alleviate my pain, my pain for him. "Alice?" He asked again.

"Jasper?" I cried, having to stop to take a breath. "What happened to you?" I managed to sputter out. I didn't need to ask, I knew exactly what had happened. I just still couldn't believe it. Not until now.

I stood huddling in the rain for at least a minute, shivering against the steady drizzle. And even though a cold had seeped through my pajamas, I did not move. It was customary to run, jump, or get your blood circulating in some other way, but something was telling me that standing still was my best option.

Silence prevailed over all else when Jasper did not answer. I waited for his reply, only having the patter of rain and the occasional bug to listen to. It was bleak without his voice, but I did not want to have to prompt him again.

When I had gathered more of a hold on my emotions, I knew I would have to ask again. Jasper remained completely still; his only movement was the slight shiver that ran up his spine occasionally and his fast inhalations.

I think he may have forgotten me, which was a surprise. Jasper was very in tune with his surroundings and my previous cries had hardly been quiet. His gaze was fixed onto the ground and for a moment, I wondered whether I should interrupt it. His face was devoid of all expression.

"What happened?" I asked again in a soft, reassuring look. It was the easiest question I could think of, and we had to start somewhere. Jasper did not respond once again. I sat near him, evaluating his every move, or lack thereof. "Answer me." I pleaded of him. I sounded desperate, even to my own ears. Maybe that was what sparked him alive.

"Why are you here?" He asked instead of answering my own question. For a moment, anger sparked within me, but I knew once I looked at him that it would not last long.

"I knew you were here." I did not elaborate. Jasper looked confused, and I sympathized with him.

"How?"

This was my chance to tell him, but all of my mind was telling me not to. I really did want to explain everything in hopes of him returning the favor, but who is to say that he would respond in such a way. I didn't want to give him the chance to run away. "I just had this feeling." I said lamely, watching him as intently as he did to me.

"You shouldn't have come." He growled. Out of nowhere, he stood up with quick, jerky movements. He was hunched over with his good hand clenched near his stomach. Even with the ever present rain, I could tell he was not in good shape.

"No!" I objected right away, causing him to look to me once more. "Please don't go Jasper." I begged, looking to him with wide eyes. "I promise I won't ask any more questions." I continued without thinking.

He thought for a moment. The rain fell in between us, creating a barrier. But instead of leaving, he turned around and walked back to me. He sat down on the bench this time several feet away.

Again, without thinking, I immediately scooted over to him to give him comfort and warmth, both of which I needed as well. Jasper didn't speak, and I hadn't the slightest inkling of what to say. Instead of speaking, I grabbed onto his sleeve and held on tight. I, too, was practically empty of emotion having it all worn out immediately after my first episode.

"Are you cold?" Jasper's warm, low voice watched over me asking such a simple question. I looked up to him, which was hard when I was huddled so close to his arm. His smooth tone warmed me when he spoke, but I didn't want to tell him that.

"Are you?" I asked back not inclined to inform him that I was freezing. Jasper's low chuckle shook me slightly having been so close to him. It was not a laugh of pleasure, or amusement, but one of irony. It was a bleak, unwelcomed sound.

"I'm used to this," was his only response. I didn't like the sound of his tone, or the words themselves, but I also did not was to argue with him now. I slide just a bit closer to him out of fear. He sounded lonely.

I couldn't tell him that I knew, he wouldn't understand. But I also could not just pretend to remain oblivious. I did though, having no other choice.

"Jasper?" I asked after we had been quiet for a moment too long.

"Yes?" He inquired back with an equal severity. I lifted myself away from him to meet his weary gaze.

"Promise you won't lie to me." I said, not in a question, but a pleading demand. Jasper looked slightly taken aback from the directness of my implication. He shifted his eyes downward, obviously ashamed. Instead of answering me in the typical response, he replied honestly.

"I won't lie to you, but I won't tell you the truth. I don't know if I can, Alice. I haven't told anybody the truth, ever. It would be asking too much of me." He said, his eyes never moving upwards.

I thought of a response. If he could be so blatantly honest, then so could I. "All I have to ask from you is that you try Jasper. I can be a powerful ally." His bleak laugh enwrapped me once again, filling me with despair.

"You can't help me, Alice. And it's not because you don't want to."

"Don't be so sure about that, Jasper." I stated calmly. Jasper did not respond to me, and I hoped he would consider that my statement might be true. It was. I felt my eyelids go heavy, closing on somebody else's will.

I allowed slumber to overtake me only because I knew I could not resist. I fell asleep with one thought residing in my head. _Jasper agreed not to lie._ I knew with this small decision, we had taken a huge step together and it would not be long until he would finally let me help him.

He had to be the one to tell me, to trust me. I could not come barging into his life. But once he let me help, I could help him. With these thought, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, huddling close to Jasper.

Jasper POV-

I couldn't move her. As much pain and discomfort it caused me, I couldn't move the resting head on my shoulder. I should have asked Alice to move before she fell asleep, but now that she did, I didn't have the heart to move her.

She had fallen asleep with her head pressed into my injured shoulder, the one I had hit against the ground when I had fallen. It was the one that I knew would not heal for quite a bit and probably cause me trouble in gym. It isn't easy to explain why I can't raise my arm higher than about halfway.

Of course, the gym teacher is used to my horrible attempts at excusing my injuries. I think he believes I like to get into fights, or maybe that I am bullied, but does it really matter? As long as he leaves me alone, what he thinks doesn't make a difference to me.

It seemed that lately, the only thing I had an interest in was Alice. She has somehow brought herself to me through an unknown light. I certainly was not looking for any girls before. Alice stood out from the others, an angel among mankind. However, she should not have come.

Everything would be a lot less complicated if Alice had not moved here, or if she had not befriended Bella. Everything would be back to how things were, simple. Alice came like a whirlwind through my life, but she shouldn't have. It would have spared her the heartbreak.

I couldn't be nice to her. Even though she was the only human I have ever enjoyed talking to in a long while, I can't keep hanging out with her. She is too perfect, so clean. Even if I was allowed to be friends with her, I knew I could not. I don't enjoy ruining people's lives that much.

Anyways, she was too smart for her own good. I knew she was at least semi-informed on my secret, but I will never be the one to tell her. I will not ruin her life.

It would be all too easy to allow myself to relax around her. Something about her gentle actions, her small voice, it all relaxed me. Around her, I forgot about my masquerade, and that was a dangerous thing. My life was too dangerous for her.

I looked down at the sleeping form resting against me. As much as I knew all this, I couldn't move her. I couldn't do the right thing by leaving her here on the bench. It was selfish of me, I knew it. But I could not bring myself to move her, and for that I was weak.

Alice rolled her head slightly, alleviating the pain she was causing me. I sighed in relief. She looked so calm and collected when she was sleeping; not at all like the troubled girl she was when she first saw me tonight.

I caused her to burst into tears like that, evidence that I was ruining her. The second she saw me, she had started to cry from the horror. She was disgusted with me.

Of course, I was disgusted with myself too. It was not a hard thing to do. I had cowered away from my dad, I had not faced my punishment like a man. I was weak. I had done the wrong thing and not faced up to it. I deserved what I got.

And like the weakling I was, I ran off to the park. It was a stupid idea. But I had to run away from my life like a coward. It was my own damn fault and yet I couldn't deal with the consequences. Instead, I snuck out the window and sat out in the rain. It was what I did every time when I couldn't deal with things. The rain and cold made me numb, inside and out.

There was something about sitting out on this bench in the middle of the night that helped me through my troubles. Here, I could resort into myself without being beaten for it. I knew it was petty to have to wallow in self-pity, but it was something I did often on nights like tonight.

The only difference was that Alice had shown up. I hadn't the slightest idea how she knew I was out here, but somehow she did. When she was talking to me, I once again forgot about things. It was even nicer than the rain.

But now, she had fallen asleep. With the closing of her eyes, the despair sunk into me again. She had taken all of the happiness away, leaving me a shell. It was like being so cold that you felt good, but all of a sudden, a burst of warmth surrounded you. But when it was gone, you were back to being cold. The only difference was that you were no longer numb.

Alice was that burst of warmth. But because I knew it could not last, I also knew that I could not be around her. I looked down to her innocent form, but this time, my resolve was hardened. This time, I could do what I had to do.

I lifted her head from my shoulder and pushed her body away. I gently rested her on the bench, her head resting on the wood. She looked so forlorn. Her small body smooth against the harsh wood. I hated myself for doing this.

I shook off my jacket that I had been wearing and laid it atop of her. At least now, she could be a little bit warmer. I turned and began to walk away, no longer numb. But I knew that it was for her sake as well as my own. At least now, she would not have to deal with being around the weak.

Alice was such a strong independent person. I knew this only from talking to her. She didn't deserve to be around me as much as I didn't deserve her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Alice's Point of View

My mind was hazy when I finally came to a full awakening. I glanced around at my unfamiliar surroundings. I was on top of a soggy bench with a dark jacket on top of me. I was utterly confused until the events of the previous night overtook me like the oncoming tide. I quickly got to my feet to look around.

Jasper was nowhere to be seen. He must have left before I had gotten up. I looked down to the jacket and realized it was very distinctly his. He seemed to always be wearing it. I shivered having knocked it off of me when I stood up and quickly pulled my arms into the sleeves to protect me from the biting cold.

It had stopped raining some time ago. The grass was only slightly damp. I knew it would start up soon, so I knew that rushing home would be logical. My eyes widened as that thought crossed through my head. Home.

I hurriedly jumped out of my brief reverie and started to jog home. My pant legs dragged in the grass, and despite it not being too wet, the fabric began to weigh down with water. My mom and dad would be freaking, it was painfully obvious.

It had to be had to at least ten o'clock judging from the sun and I knew Bella and Rosalie would alert my parents on my absence. Hopefully, they would not assume I was kidnapped or something of the like. Knowing my parents, that was exactly what they were thinking.

The walk home was distinctly shorter than it had been the night before, but if that was because of the actual time or my perception, I did not know. I raced through the neighborhoods until I was greeted with the familiar house I have come to have known as my own.

I trotted up to the doorstep and flung open the door. In turn, I saw the worried expressions of Bella, Esme, and both of my parents. They all turned towards the sound and once realizing the cause, smiles alighted their features. My mother's graceful frame came flying to me. "Alice!" She exclaimed, hugging me tightly. "Where have you been? Everybody is out looking for you."

I pulled away from my mother's grip to give her a confused look. "What do you mean _everybody?" _I asked in horror.

"Charlie, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Carlisle are out looking for you. You had us so worried." She explained with an accelerated pace, obviously still upset. "Where were you?" She asked again.

I stuttered for a moment, at a loss of what to say. I didn't want to tell my mom I met Jasper at the park. But while I tried to think up an excuse, my mother interrupted me. "Is that a boy's jacket?" She asked incredulously. I groaned at her assumptions, but before I could speak, she was in full-ramble mode. "I cannot believe you would go sneak out to a boy's house! What were you doing over there?" She demanded. She continued on with her lecture without allowing time for me to respond. She droned on about the responsibilities of a teenage girl and about how I should know better, never giving me time to defend myself. Eventually, it was Esme who cut in.

"Why don't we give Alice some time to get cleaned up, huh? She'll be back in a minute." She said to my mother, trying to get her to calm down. Without waiting for my mother to agree, I gratefully speed up the stairs. Bella was just one step behind me, despite her foot. When I got into my room, she turned to look at me.

"Why are you wearing Jasper's jacket?" She inquired softly having recognized his everyday attire. Apparently, Esme did not. I looked down at my feet; the jacket was causing me more trouble than it was worth.

"It's not what you think." I mumbled shamefully. Bella took a step toward my bed, sat on it, and patted the spot next to her for me to sit down.

"What happened?" She asked slowly, without prejudice. I took a deep breath before responding. For some reason, I felt now was the time to tell Bella, tell her everything.

"I have these visions." I started reluctantly, looking to Bella. She was not freaking out, but she did look confused. "They come to me when I'm sleeping. They usually are the future, and well, I saw that Jasper was at the park last night." I took a deep breath.

"He looked upset, so I went go comfort him. When I was there, I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up, it was morning. He left his jacket for me." I tapped the jacket in explanation.

Bella nodded thoughtfully before replying. "Why was Jasper upset?" She asked, not missing anything. I was surprised at her quick dismissal of the fact that I could see the future, but I did not want to creep her out by elaborating on something she didn't want to here.

I debated for a moment on whether or not I should tell Bella the truth; I opted to do so. Bella was a trusting person, she would understand. "I think he gets hurt by his parents." I sighed, looking up to gage her reaction.

Bella was quiet for a moment, a surprised expression on her face. I stayed silent for her to speak, waiting to see what she would say. Eventually, she spoke in a quiet whisper. "And you saw this?" Her voice was full of pity.

I nodded my head, knowing that it was not my secret to tell. Even though Bella was the kindest person I had met in a while, Jasper never told his secret to her. He obviously did not want her to know. Of course, he did not tell me his secret either. Did this make it better or worse?

"Have you confronted him about it?" She continued to inquire. Her voice remained in the same constant tone, a mixture of sorrow and pity. Her eyebrows were scrunched and she was looking down with worried eyes.

"It's not that easy. He tends to avoid the subject." I let out a bitter laugh, feeling terrible inside and out. "I would too if I was him."

Bella was about to say something when I heard Esme call from down the stairs. Even when she was yelling she sounded calm and collected. "Girls, the search party is back." She called. I can only assume she was kidding when she referred to our friends in such a way. She was oblivious to the mood upstairs.

I whiped away a tear I hadn't realized I had cried and hoped from the bed in a fluid motion. I reluctantly slid off Jasper's coat and followed Bella down the stairs. At the bottom, I saw everybody who was previously missing. Emmett's grin stood out among the rest of them and it was he who spoke.

"You gave us all a heart attack, kid. Not a very smart move." He laughed causing brighter smiles among the rest of them. They weren't the ones who had to deal with the truth, they had it easy.

I looked knowingly at Bella, who gave a sorry smile back. At least I wouldn't have to go through everything by myself. Bella knew, and I could trust her. I didn't even have to swear her to secrecy, she just already knew. That's why Bella really was a good friend.

I paced my room the next morning waiting for the time to pass. I had several minutes until I was due downstairs. Yesterday had been a bust. My dad and mom solidly agreed that I was grounded for the rest of eternity. After sending home my friends, I was practically banished to my room. Needless to say, I spent most of yesterday acting as I did so now.

With nothing to do, I was stuck within my own thoughts. It was one of those times when I began to ruminate on the residual guilt that had stuck to me this entire time. It seemed that everything I did was wrong. I just couldn't make things right, no matter how strong my efforts were.

I had gotten in trouble for running off. I had told Bella the truth about Jasper. Heck, I even told her the biggest secret I had ever kept. Not even my parents knew about it. Bella's reaction had been unreal. I must assume that it was just a façade. Nobody has the clarity to think things through so fast and accurately. She didn't even blink an eye.

When it was time for me to head down the stairs and wait for my ride, I leaped down them, two at a time. I was full of unused energy. I stared out the window with my backpack in hand. Bella offered me a ride, and because it was practical and not just for fun, my parents had agreed.

Bella's truck was slightly intimidating. The dilapidated car looked like it had seen better days. That is why when it finally pulled up into my driveway I stared out the window a moment longer. I briefly considered "forgetting" that I had a ride today.

But I knew better than to do so, I opened my front door and slid through it. Bella waved through the windshield when she saw me. I smiled in reply heading for the passenger side of her car.

"Thanks for the ride." I said as I pulled myself up onto the seat. Bella smiled. She was wearing her casual wear, as always. The particular color she wore today definitely did not match her skin tone. I considered telling her this when she responded.

"Your house is on the way." I could tell now, looking closer at her, that she looked nervous. This was not out of character for Bella, but I couldn't help but wonder what was causing her to act that way. "And it beats getting a ride with your mom, right?" She asked. I could hear the slight strain in her voice as struggled for words.

It dawned on me with a wave of realization. I looked to my feet, also embarrassed. It took me several moments to gain the courage to speak. Before then, the silence was palpable. "I can still call my mom. You don't have to drive me if you don't want to." I mumbled. It was so horrible. The sinking feeling of disgust with myself was prominent.

It took Bella a second to understand what I meant with my words. There was a visible difference when she noticed my meaning. She straightened in her seat and let out a small exclamation. "Alice," She started slowly, not taking her eyes of the road. I cut her off.

"No, it's okay. I know that you don't want to hang out with me. I'm a freak."

When Bella responded, her voice was stronger than I have ever heard. "Alice, I don't think you're a freak." She paused, allowing me time to sink in this information. Her gaze still remained in front of her. "I was just nervous about asking you about it. I didn't know if you would be offended."

With those words, sounding as sincere as possible, I allowed a grin to appear on my face. Excitement bubbled. It was amazing how fast my emotions turned around. "No!" I exclaimed. Bella looked over to me with surprise. "I don't mind." I continued with a softer tone. Bella chuckled at me.

"So you can see the future?" She inquired with a neutral tone. It was my turn to avert my eyes. I hoped I would not scare her off. But she seemed so accepting.

Looking at the trees passing by outside, I watched them wave from the strong wind. The weather was slightly violent, including the pounding of the rain. I gulped before nodding. "Yeah, I can see things in my sleep. I didn't tell you much about it yesterday. It's not like I'm clairvoyant or anything, I just get glimpses." I paused.

Bella nodded as if I had explained that the grass was green or the sky was blue. She looked calm. I took this as a sign to continue. "Well," I started awkwardly. "I have seen the future, the present, and once I saw the past. Usually it's just pointless things. I have seen myself falling down the stairs, the fact it was going to rain, just random stuff." I had no idea how to explain this.

"Can you change the things you see?" Her voice was steady. I calmed my racing heart at this. Everything was going okay so far.

I deliberated what she said momentarily. "I never had the need to." I answered honestly. Most of the things I saw were either accidental or not so bad. Bella looked thoughtful at this.

"This is so crazy." She said finally. Her voice was not disbelieving, so I took the opportunity to laugh.

"You're telling me. This is the first time I have ever told somebody."

"Your parents don't know?" She asked in confusion. I shook my head vigorously. "Why not? Do you not want to tell them?"

I laughed at this. "It's not that. It's just that my parents are very real people. They like to believe what they can see. Nothing more." I couldn't imagine ever telling either of my parents. They would probably think I was insane.

"So do you see your future or other people's?" Bella asked, changing the topic. She must have realized that my parents were a touchy subject.

"Usually only mine. I usually see only the things that are going to directly involve me. For instance, I would only see the rain if I was going to be in it. Make sense?" I inquired to see if Bella was keeping up.

"Yeah, I think so. Why did you say usually? Have you seen other people's before?" Bella really was an observant person.

"Only Jasper's," I was determined to answer everything honestly. In truth, I couldn't even begin to understand why I could see him. It was like I was Jasper, but that made so little sense. Bella was pondering what I said as we pulled up into the school's parking lot. When I hopped out of her rickety truck, I was relieved to be out of the driving death trap.

Bella limped around the truck so we could walk up to the school together. "Thanks for telling me that, Alice. It must have been hard."

I grinned to her, thousands of sarcastic remarks flicking through my mind. Even if I wasn't much for sarcasm, I certainly could think of them. But Bella was being honest, so I opted for a heartfelt reply. "Thanks for understanding." I paused. Bella looked to me in concern. She was about to ask what was wrong when I continued with a laugh. "And for the ride."

I grimaced as we enter school and parted ways, but when I thought of who I would be meeting first period, I smiled. At least school wasn't too bad.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Jasper POV

I thought that maybe with time, and a good night sleep, I could get over the majority of the pain that racked my body with each step, each breath; I thought maybe I could manage sitting up. I thought I could, but clearly I was mistaken. It was all I could do not to curl myself back into a ball and fall back to sleep. I had to fight to keep my eyes open and my thoughts lucid. There was no way I would make it to school today, yet alone out of bed.

I knew that I hardly had a choice in the matter though. If my parents wanted me at school, then I would be at school. No questions asked. Somehow, however, nobody has come up to urge my movement. I had been alone with my thoughts, and my pain, all morning.

This weekend had been bad. If Friday was unpleasant, Saturday and even Sunday could only be described as horrid. My dad was not pleased with my nighttime excursion. Of course, he used different words than that. I could feel the customary stinging on my back from the wounds given to me.

Have you ever had someone tell you that pain is a mental thing, that you can ignore it? Yeah, that's not true. If it was as easy as trying to forget about it, I would have been healthy long ago. Pain is _not _a mental state. It's purely physical.

I had deserved what I got for staying out most of the night. That was not my original plan, and I should not have diverted from it. But, as always, I got distracted and managed to do everything wrong. I deserved the punishment.

I had gotten home on Friday late into the night. It was clearly close to morning. I had been safe because both of my parents, as well as my siblings, had been asleep. I was not nearly as lucky Saturday night.

My dad works everyday but Sunday and he was not home when I had gotten up. My mom was not a factor seeing how it seemed to be her goal to ignore me completely. I had walked down the stairs in heavy sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt when I first saw her.

She was busy making some sort of breakfast. It looked to me like a different kind of egg casserole. Whatever it was, it seemed odd. I stood in the doorway for a moment pondering whether or not I should enter.

I didn't. In fact, it was not until hours later, when my father had finally gotten home that I even saw my mother once again. But by that time, I hardly paid attention to the woman; my thoughts were focused elsewhere, primarily of the biting belt slamming rhythmically on my back.

My dad gets home at five from his office job. He sits down at the dinner table and waits for his wife to call down the children. My father is an old fashioned kind of man. He was born in raised in the Deep South and his beliefs were brought up there.

I suppose not every Southerner is quite like my dad, most of them are probably taught right and wrong just as the rest of us. My dad, on the other hand, hardly has the same morals.

Dinners are mandatory in my house. Along with my siblings, I walked down the stairs with a feeling of dread rising in my stomach. It was never until _after _dinner was my own punishment brought down upon me.

I should take it like a man, just grit my teeth and deal with it. It's never that easy. I was quivering in my seat when my father surveyed me with his detached, cool gaze. I couldn't eat the plate before me.

By the time he had finished dinner, my dad had achieved his mood. It was the emotionless state he was always in when I was in trouble. Without a word, he escorted me out of the room and into my won up the stairs.

Walking up with my hands in front of me, I couldn't help but compare myself to the criminals put up to the death penalty. What's funny is that it is practically one in the same. The only difference was the lesser crime accompanied by the lesser punishment.

As always, when he took off his belt, I knelt to the ground. It was routine, and though it was harsh, I was to deal with it.

I counted the blows, one by one. Each whip dug into my skin, blinding me with pain. Its indescribable, certainly nothing like it is depicted in the movies. I was shaking on the ground, swaying in an attempt to lay upright. I vaguely remember the lengthy speech he gave me on my misbehaviors before I could no longer hold my consciousness.

I woke up Sunday bruised and battered. Although there were crisp, white bandages tied around my back, I could feel them burn whether I was moving or not. I stayed in bed all day without a word from my parents.

That's why I was surprised by the fact that nobody came up to usher me off to school. I had spent my day of rest yesterday, and I never got two. I only got one even for my broken arm, the one that yet to have been set.

I would not complain; however, that would be cursing my luck. I remained still in my bed until I heard my mother's familiar footsteps heading up the stairs. Whatever was going to happen would be explained.

I had my eyes closed when the door opened and closed, her padding feet coming closer. "Jasper?" She called out in a soft motherly voice. I almost didn't want to answer her call. I wanted to remain completely oblivious, but at the same time, I knew I could not do so. I pried my eyes open and looked into her own worried pair. "How are you doing?"

I grimaced at the audible care in her voice. It was worse than the cool persona my father took upon himself. I had to take a deep breath before responding, but when I did so, the skin on my back stretched causing me to groan in pain.

My mother was at my side in a minute and while half of me was glad she was here to take care of me, the other wanted to push the fraud away. "What hurts, honey?" She pleaded to me.

I tried to keep the malice from my response, but I might not have been completely successful. "I'm fine." I answered simply. I wanted her to leave, now. I would rather remain ignorant than spend extra time with her. I would not ask her why I was allowed to stay home. I wanted her to leave.

I think my mom noticed this fact because she stood up to leave abruptly. "I'm going to the store. Is it okay if I send Josh up here while I'm out?" She asked in that same false-motherly tone. I warily nodded my head. With my response, she left the room.

Most encounters with my mother were hardly pleasant, but she was a peculiar person. At some points she felt like my mother, and sometimes I saw her as a fraud, a complete and utter fake.

Minutes later, I heard a lighter step near my door. Without a knock, my younger brother, Joshua, came tumbling in through the door. "Hey, Buddy." I smiled weakly when he entered. My copper-headed brother smiled.

He gingerly walked toward the bed, a careful expression on his face. "Are you okay?" He questioned. Out of all of my siblings, Josh was my favorite. I suppose you are not supposed to have favorites, but the innocent kid was the only one not corrupted by our way of life, not yet.

"Don't worry about me. What did you bring to play?"

Josh pondered my question seriously. He bit his lip in thought. "I brought some crayons, do you want to play?"

I smiled to my brother. "I'll just watch." I responded knowing I could not write due to my limp hand nor could I even sit up. It was a good thing I skipped school today. It would have been torturous.

Alice Point of View

I paced the hallways back and forth. Most of the students already left seeing as it was after school, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. Well, that and the fact that Bella was getting something from one of her teachers. I still needed her to give me a ride home, or at least drop me off where I wanted. The idea grew in my head with every step I took.

Bella's heavy footsteps alerted me to her presence, but only when she was a few paces away from me. I shot my head up in surprise. "Get what you need?" I asked, hopefully leaving the anticipation out of my voice.

Bella nodded with a confused smile on her face. "What is so exciting?" She inquired half laughing at me.

I smiled despite the fact I knew she was making fun of me. "I'm going to stop by the office before we leave, that okay?" I grinned. Bella chuckled at me, obviously wondering why I was so hyped up about a trip to the office.

"Sure," She said slowly as if it was a trick question. My smiled widened as I practically skipped down the halls, a plan in my mind. Bella followed behind me at a much slower pace, but I didn't slow down. I knew that she didn't want to have to wait for me later.

When I reached the office, I slipped on my calm and collected persona. I held my shoulders back and my head high. If this was to work, I needed to look like I knew what I was doing. "Excuse me?" I asked, attempted to catch the secretary's attention.

The lady looked up. "Hello, Miss Brandon. What can I do for you?" She asked remembering me from my first day. It really was a small school.

"I grabbed some of Jasper Whitlock's homework, I was wondering if you could tell me where he lived so I could bring it to him." I smiled politely. I help up my backpack as if that proved anything. The secretary seemed to believe me because her smile was a kind one.

"Sure, you are such a dear. Give me a second." She said searching through one of the files in the desk. My eyes widened in size and I had to use all my self restraint not to jump up in jubilance. I tapped my foot in impatience as I waited for her.

Time seemed to inch as her flipped through the copious papers. I was bouncing when she pulled out a single paper. "Here we are. Let me write this down for you." She was distracted as she spoke, not much of a multi-tasker. She smiled as she handed me the paper. "Hope he feels better soon."

"I'm sure it's just the flu." I responded with a large, fake smile knowing that was not the reason. With a quick wave, I walked out the door. "Thank you!" I remembered to call right before it closed. I saw the secretary wave through the glass.

Bella was waiting, watching our exchange when I turned around. She looked puzzled. "What was that about?"

Feigning an innocent look, I shrugged my shoulders. Bella rolled her eyes as we headed toward her car. "So," I started conversationally still trying to seem care-free. Bella gave me a sharp look prompting me to hurry to the point. "I was thinking, if you don't have to be anywhere right after school, maybe we could stop somewhere for a few minutes."

Bella laughed. "What's you master plan?"

"Just world domination." I responded still keeping my wide eyes. That is, until I dropped the act and fell into an evil cackling. Bella rolled her eyes again. "Fine," I sighed. "I was hoping to stop by Jasper's house."

Bella's attention was immediately sharpened. "He told you where he lived?" She questioned abruptly. I tilted my head in confusion.

"No, why? Does he usually not tell people?"

Bella was hesitant to continue. "Well, he hasn't told anybody. Even Edward hasn't been to his house and they were best friends for a bit. How do you know where he lives?"

We reached the car before I had time to respond so there were several minutes before I could answer. I swung myself into the passenger seat and buckled up, waiting for Bella to do the same. "I asked the secretary." I said when we pulled out of the empty parking lot.

"And she just told you?"

"Not exactly," I trailed off.

"What did you do, Alice?" Bella asked in an exasperated tone. I muffled a laugh as we drove.

"Nothing," I started before realizing Bella had no idea where he lived. "Here's the address, how did you know to go this way?"

"I've seen him walking down this way."

"Does he walk home?" I asked in surprise. The nearest houses to Forks High were at least two miles away. If he walked that in the winter, it would be torturous, not to mention the everyday occurrence of rain.

"Most days, I think. I have seen him do it, but I don't know if he does everyday." She said nonchalantly.

"I bet he does every time, his parents probably won't drive him." I sighed thinking of his assumed predicament. Bella looked sadden when I brought up our conversation from over the weekend.

"I wanted to forget about that." Bella laughed without humor. I was surprised by the bleak tone in her voice. "I almost managed to do so, learning about your ability helped."

I sighed again. Looking over in sympathy, I paused before I responded. "I'm glad I know." I said thoughtfully. "He needs help."

"I'm glad you told me too, are you going to confront him today?"

"If he's not hurt," I started, still thoughtful. "I mainly want to make sure he's okay."

Bella nodded in understanding. She slowed her truck suddenly in front of a house. It looked completely normal, nothing out of the ordinary. When Bella turned off the truck, the deafening roar subsided, leaving us in silence. "You ready?" She asked. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

Out of nowhere, this despairing feeling filled my chest. Although appearance-wise, this house was normal, I couldn't help but realize that this was the house from my visions. I was nervous to even get closer to the building.

"Do you want me to go in with you or wait out here?" Bella asked. I thought momentarily before answering.

"Come in with me, I'd be too nervous to go by myself." I was completely honest. I couldn't handle facing his parents without Bella by myself. I grabbed my backpack as I stepped out of the car. I actually did have various sheets of homework to do, whether Jasper had asked for them or not. Bella followed me up to the front door.

She seemed about as nervous as me, but she dealt with it better. Her hands where shaking, but other than that, she did not experience the same quivering that I did. My entire body was shaking like a leaf. I don't even entirely understand what made me act so, but I was scared, logical or not.

I rang the doorbell with unsteady hands before I shoved them into my jacket pockets waiting for someone to answer. If I thought waiting at Edward's house was bad, this was torturous.

Finally, my worries were quelled when the person who answered the door turned out to be a young girl, clearly not his mother or his father. "Who are you?" She demanded, flicking back her red-gold hair. The girl might have been anywhere between the age of ten and thirteen, seeing as she clearly wasn't in high school, but looked on her way into her teens.

"We're Jasper's friends." Bella said when I failed to respond right away. "We have his homework. He wasn't at school today." Although I doubt Bella was trying to be, she sounded slightly condescending. Knowing that acting that way would certainly not grant us entrance, I interrupted.

"I love your skirt!" I exclaimed. "Did you get it at that new store in the mall?" I asked as if it had importance. I recognized the skirt from my online browsing and I hoped that shopping sparked her interest.

The girl smiled, her hands immediately going to her skirt. "Yeah, I got it last weekend. It was on sale." She beamed with pride.

"Really? I must have missed that sale when I was grounded." I sighed with exaggerated disappointment.

"What were you grounded for?" The girl asked eagerly.

"I snuck out of the house." I lied easily.

"Did you end up going to some party?" The girl's eyes brightened with interest as we spoke.

"It was totally worth it." I nodded. The girl seemed okay with us entering after I spoke. She opened the door wider.

"Come in," She said welcoming us in the house. I didn't miss the glare she gave Bella before her attention turned back to me. "Do you need to give Jasper some stuff?" She asked with mild curiosity. I nodded and gestured to my backpack in explanation. "You don't seem like the kind of girl to hang out with him." She said, speaking her thoughts. I had to stifle a laugh before pointing up the stairs.

"Can I go give it to him? I have to explain a thing or two. Bella will stay down here." Bella looked annoyed with this, but said nothing. The girl looked sad to see me go, but nonetheless directed me to Jasper's room.

"Second door on the left." She said with a frown. I smiled in thanks before sprinting up the stairs. The girl was odd to say the least. She was unfiltered and did not come across as the nicest girl in class, but who was I to judge?

I passed the first door before stopping at the second. It was closed so I hesitantly raised my hand to knock. Taking deep breaths, I hit the wooden door three times before waiting for a response.

"Yeah?" I heard Jasper's rough voice on the other side.

"It's me, Alice." I called softly, hoping he would let me in, not that he had much of a choice. Before Jasper could answer, a little boy pulled open the door. He had redder hair than the girl downstairs and he was absolutely adorable as far as kids go.

"Jasper's sick." He explained to me. I smiled at him and resisted the urge to ruffle his hair.

"I know, I have his homework."

"Is it okay if she comes in, Jasper?" He asked, turning around. I heard Jasper's soft response, but could not make out the words. The boy nodded before opening the door wider. "You can come in, but I have to go. Jasper told me to give ya'll some space." He told me. Without waiting for a response, he skidded down the stairs to the first floor.

I smiled at the kid before stepping into the room. Jasper's bedroom was white and had little personality, but most of my attention was on Jasper himself. "I have your homework." I repeated to him.

Jasper was lying in bed looking pale and more fragile than I had ever seen him. He had didn't sit up, but he had a grin on his face. "Thanks." He said solemnly. I gave him a small smile.

"That's not the only reason I came." I said with a wry grin.

"It's not?" He asked looking at me, his eyes momentarily glancing at my bag. I shook my head and dropped the backpack and sat on the corner of his bed.

I felt the smile fall from my face as I gazed at him trying to see if I saw any discomfort. "Are you okay?" I asked seriously.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because even after that horrible beating last week, you still came to school, but you didn't today." I explained not immediately realizing my mistake. He frowned.

"How did you know about that?" He asked. His eyebrows crunched together in confusion. I almost laughed at the irony of it all. For the second time in the last few days, I was given the perfect opportunity to explain my ability, but this time I opted not to.

"Can you trust me, Jasper?" I asked him keeping my gaze with his. He nodded, not understanding where I was going with this. "I just know." I continued lamely.

"How though?"

I smiled at him. "I'll explain later, but you're not the only one with secrets." I answered in a mystic voice. "Care to explain yours? Seeing as I already know them, it would be better to hear a first hand account." Jasper's face hardened at my words.

"Leave." He growled. I was taken aback from him abrupt mood change.

"What?" I stuttered out in confusion. This was not how I planed for things to go.

"Leave, Alice. I want you to go." He sounded exasperated when he spoke. I stared at him for a moment, processing his sharp words. I could feel the tears building in my eyes.

"Look," I started to explain, about to apologize. But before I could continue, Jasper interrupted me.

"I'm not in the mood. Please go." He said, looking away. I blinked away my tears, anger replacing it instead.

"Fine, I'll go, Jasper. But I want you to know, you're being childish. I already know all about you, it's not that hard to guess. Know that when you are begging for forgiveness, looking for a friend, I might not help you out." I growled at him. I ripped open my backpack and threw some of the papers onto the floor. "There's your homework. Your welcome." I snapped. I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Bella was awkwardly talking to the girl. "Thank you, but we have to go now." I smiled to her and grabbed Bella by the arm. Before the girl had time to respond, I was half way out the door pulling Bella behind me.

It was not until we both sat in the truck did either of us speak. "What happened?" Bella asked in concern. Tear started to pour down my cheeks and I was too choked up to answer.

"He's a jerk." I managed to spit out, my anger still present. If Jasper didn't want to be helped, than I wouldn't help him.

It was not until the next day when I entered my first period class did I regret yesterday's decision. After Bella dropped me off, I fumed for the better part of the night and even into this morning. I just could not get over Jasper's dismissal of it all.

I had been playing, or at least that was what I hoped I was doing. Somehow the words just did not come out of my mouth right, and like the frightened animal he was, Jasper ran off.

It had not been my intention to confront him on his home life, it just happened. My mouth trailed alongside my mind and ended me up in this predicament. My temper hadn't helped much either. If anything, I proved to Jasper what a complete and utter jerk I was. One second I joking and thoughtful, and the next, I'm being a brat and trying to get my way with everything. It was just great that Jasper now knew how emotional I was.

Regardless, I knew as I pushed the heavy wooden door open into my History class that I had to apologize. My resolve to help was only strengthened by yesterday's doubt. That was a moment of anger, of childishness. I walked with as much confidence as I could muster until I sat down next to the center of my thoughts.

Jasper showed no signs of even noticing me. He eyes where fixed on his arm. Sitting quietly next to him, I debated my course of action. Pulling myself straighter, I opted for the clearest pathway. "Jasper?" I pleaded with him in a soft voice, hopefully not sounding too desperate.

He ignored me for a moment, but just as I was about to repeat his name, he looked up at me. "I'm sorry." He said. Although his face was directed to me, his eyes were downward.

I hesitated, but gently raised my hand to his chin, pulling upward. He almost seemed to flinch from my touch, but he did not pull his head away. With his eyes forced to meet mine, I saw the pain and sorrow in his gaze. "I should be the one to apologize." I replied, looking softly at him. Hopefully I conveyed my forgiveness.

He looked down again as if he were afraid to meet my eyes. "I said things I didn't mean."

"Me too," I smiled. The teacher walked into the room, but I hardly paid attention. She walked to the front of the class. With everybody else quiet, I was only allowed to give Jasper one last glance before trying to turn my attention to the teacher. I was highly unsuccessful with the remorse in my veins, but I looked engaged and that was all that mattered.

Pulling out a piece of paper, I knew I needed to talk to Jasper once again. I grabbed my thin, black pen and scrawled out a message to him. _You don't have to tell me anything, not yet. _I wrote before sliding the paper along the desk over to my partner.

He looked surprised, but after inspecting the note, he picked up a stray sharpie on the desk. He scribbled something down before sliding the paper back with a serious, forgiving smile.

**It seems like you already know. How? **It said in almost illegible handwriting. It must have been from the obstructing cast. I smiled to myself as I wrote down my response. _You wouldn't believe me even if I told you._

I watched as he inspected the note, paying no attention to the class anymore. He ran his left hand through his hair before fumbling with the Sharpie to write back.

There were two small words that filled me with hope when I read them. **Try me. **I took a deep breath before hesitantly grabbing my writing utensil. The only way to be trusted was to trust, right? I made my decision of what to do, but I wrote down contradictory words.

_Only if you tell me yours. _As Jasper read the note, he frowned slightly. I was worried that I had bothered him before I heard him chuckling under his breath.

**Fine, when? **I widened my eyes reading his response. It couldn't be that easy, could it? I had demanded the same from him yesterday, hadn't I? What had changed so dramatically from that conversation? On his face now was no trace of the anger he had experienced so recently.

_Lunch? _I wrote without hesitation when the note was passed back to me. This was not happening. He wasn't agreeing, was he? My hand was shaking when I wrote that signal word, letter by letter.

Instead of writing anything, Jasper looked to me with a soft, hesitant smile on his face. I was about to write my confirmation when I heard my name from someone other than Jasper.

"Alice?" The teacher demanded in front of the class. I looked up with a start. "Care to join us once again?" She asked with a frown. I bit my lip and looked down, adrenaline pumping through me immediately after she spoke.

I didn't reply, but I looked down in embarrassment. The teacher shook her head and went back to talking. I tried to pay more attention to her information, but I was lost quickly to the world of Jasper.

What was going to happen next period? At lunch? Was I going to make it through this entire day? From beside me, Jasper portrayed no outward sign of anticipation or worry. He was watching the teacher with attention and for a moment, I was jealous.

When the bell finally managed to ring, I was fully assured that lunch was too far away. I looked over to Jasper without preparing my books to see what he was doing. "Care to explain?" I asked in response to his sly grin. He shook his head.

"No, I think I'm good."

"Good to know you are." I mumbled under my breath. Jasper chuckled again but I couldn't for the life of me figure out his happy mood. One second, he was so serious and sad, and the next he was just typical and happy. Jasper made no sense.

English was boring; I could barely keep myself from running to Jasper that immediate moment. For some reason, Bella was absent today. That only slowed things down more. I was the first out of that class and last into my next.

Things progressed similarly until I sat down next to Edward in Spanish. He nodded in acknowledgement as I slid into the seat. I was jittery, still bouncing from nervousness. Edward shook his head slightly. "You okay?"

"Yes, no, I have no idea." I stumbled out, speaking the truth. Edward looked confused by this, but when he was about to respond, the teacher interrupted him.

"Esponol por favor!" She exclaimed with a sharp look. Edward smoothly replied back in the same language. Our teacher hated when anybody spoke in English in class.

"Lo siento, Senora." He apologized. I snickered slightly, still high from my exotic drug known as Jasper.

"Te gustaria ir a la officina?" The teacher asked me. I straightened immediately and looked up with solemn eyes. The threat make keep me out of lunch.

"No, Senora." I said in accented Spanish. When the teacher walked away, both Edward and I relaxed in our seats.

"Que tal?" Edward asked. I glared at him.

"Don't expect me to respond in Spanish. I can hardly speak English clearly." I smiled even if my thoughts still resided elsewhere. Edward recognized this.

"Is it Jasper?" He asked with a knowing tone strewn within his words. I shook my head in disbelief.

"Are you sure you can't read minds, Edward?"

"So I was right?" He asked instead of answering. I rolled my eyes at him, but he paid no attention. "What about Jasper?"

"Like I'd answer you." I said indignantly. I was only half paying attention to him, but I was not inclined to answer any questions he had. The teacher walked to the front of the class before Edward had time to press me for any definite answers.

"Classe," She began to speak. "Hoy es un dia bueno, no? Que te gustaria hacer despues de las classes?" She asked looking around the class, looking for her next prey. Her eyes landed on me and I swear she had an evil glint in her eyes. "Alice? Y tu?"

I stared at her before audibly sighing. "Me gustaria," I began hesitantly trying to remember something aside from Jasper. I had come up with a blank.

To save me from further embarrassment, Edward raised his hand and distracted the class. I fell safely back into my own haven waiting for class to end. Only minutes, and next was lunch. Hopefully Jasper hadn't changed his mind, hopefully.

Jasper POV

For some reason, despite it all, when I walked toward Alice's locker right before lunch, I was hardly nervous. My thoughts were focused and I was ready to do what I had to. I knew it was wrong, but I had given up.

Yesterday had me thinking. I had seen Alice's violent reaction to my harsh words, and it made me feel all the worse. But when I said those things, I knew exactly how much Alice cared. She may not be experiencing my degree of emotion, but she was certainly hurting over the secrets I had kept.

But what was I supposed to do? I know that I shouldn't be telling her anything. I know that I should keep my secrets to myself, but I can't. She is so oblivious, so innocent. Who was I to ruin that?

I couldn't keep myself from spilling it all. I was sure as I walked down the hall that I would leave the room with my chest light from the truth. I couldn't hold back information from Alice. No just was not an option when it came to her.

I hardly know the girl. I met her last Monday, hardly more than a week ago. Somehow through that week, Alice had managed to pry herself into my life more than my friends I had known for years.

Something about her bubbly personality, her cheerful mood, was intoxicating. When I wasn't around her, I was thinking about her. How had she made me so engrossed with her without even trying? That was a mystery within itself.

"Jasper?" I heard a smiling voice ask from near my side. I jumped from the proximity of the voice. Looking down, I saw Alice's excited face. "Forget already?" She laughed.

"No, I didn't." I replied watching her carefully. Alice didn't stop smiling. It was slightly comical. "Where were you thinking of going?"

Alice looked thoughtful. "I thought that classroom from before would work, the one where we talked last. Hopefully this conversation will go better, huh?" She suggested.

"That would definitely work." I agreed, nodding my head. Alice looked ecstatic and I briefly reconsidered doing this. Just as I was about to say so, Alice shook her head.

"No, you're not allowed to do that." She said adamantly as if she was agreeing with herself.

"Do what?"

"I'm not stupid, Jasper. I know what you're thinking." She said pleasantly, resuming her happy persona. I opened my mouth to reject her words, but she interrupted me once again. "You are just that easy to read." She laughed.

I thought of her words carefully. This had nothing to do with _her _secret, did it? She couldn't read minds or anything, or so I assumed. I almost groaned out loud at that prospect. If Alice could read minds, this would certainly be bad. Of course, on the other hand, that could be a plus. I wouldn't have to speak any of the details. She would already know them.

I didn't know how to respond to her last remark, so I merely continued to walk toward the unused classroom with Alice at my side. She did not seem fazed by my lack of response, the bounce in her step never faltering.

"Here?" She asked, turning around in front of the door, blocking my entrance. I nodded. "You think Edward and Emmett and all them will wonder where we are?"

"They can make their own assumptions." I said quickly, not wanting her to back down. My feelings where swinging on a pendulum. One second I was ready to run, the next I was anxiously awaiting to tell her everything.

"They might assume wrong." She laughed with a devious grin. My eyes widened at her suggestion. I could feel my checks flush at that. "Jeez Jasper, I was just kidding." Alice said taking in my response. I shook my head in disbelief.

"Let's just go in." I changed the subject, indicating the door with a nod of my head. Alice turned to look at it, pausing before she opened it. I waited patiently when she cautiously opened the door and walked in.

I turned my head and looked this way and that to make sure the coast was clear. When I assured myself, I followed her example, closing the door behind me.

With the door shut, the remainder of the noise was blocked off too. Silence filled the room. "Should I go first or you?" I asked hesitantly.

Alice took a step toward me. "You should. I wasn't lying when I told you yesterday that I knew most of yours. But if you don't want to say anything, I'll still tell you. I don't want to push you into anything."

I considered her words briefly. I didn't have to tell her anything. But even if that was true, I wanted to. Part of me was begging to explain everything to her the moment I saw her last Monday. I wanted to tell her, and if she wanted to hear it, I wasn't doing her a major injustice, was I? I opened my mouth to explain before closing it again. Alice didn't say anything, but she was watching me with a transfixed and hopeful expression.

"Nothing really happens." I started, unsure of what to say. I hadn't told anybody, ever. "I mean, my parents have always been strict. Both of them were raised in very, very _old-fashioned_ families. I guess what they do could be considered abuse, I guess." I floundered momentarily. "When I do something even partially disrespectful or wrong, well, I get punished for it."

Alice made a small nose of astonishment. I turned my gaze up from the floor to look at her. "I thought you already knew this?" I asked, confused.

"It's different hearing it from you. Don't stop. I won't interrupt." She said quickly, almost distractedly.

I went back to the story, almost regretting having her know. "Sometimes I hate them for it, sometimes I don't. I never knew it was wrong until I was a lot older. My parents don't see it as wrong." I stopped, feeling horrible for telling her that much.

Alice took my pause as prompting for questioning. "So, what about your siblings?" She asked in a quiet voice, no longer smiling.

I tried to smile, to encourage her not to be sad, but it may have come out as a grimace. I had to continue, I had already started. "My dad doesn't hurt them usually. Only once. I'm the oldest, the most responsible. It's always been that way, even if my brothers are way past the age I was. I guess they will always seem younger." I thought for a minute, Alice did not jump in. "That's a good thing though, my siblings might not be the nicest, but they don't deserve to be punished for anything."

"And you do?" Alice demanded with anger in her voice.

"I'm not perfect."

"Nobody is." She continued, looking displeased. I smiled again, trying to brighten her mood. This time, Alice reacted. She gave me a smile back. "You're the closest to perfect I have ever met." She grinned, a serious undertone to façade. I was confused by this.

"What?"

"I said that I think you're as perfect as they come." I frowned, but did not say anything. I didn't know what to say. "Does anybody else know?" She said, changing the subject when she felt my discomfort.

I thought for a moment. "Nobody but my siblings and parents, and Edward has a suspicion."

"Is that why you don't hang out with him anymore?" Alice asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"He was always worried about those things. If he told his dad, he would have gone to the child services." I explained.

"Don't you want it to end?" She asked trying to be careful. I sighed.

"You don't understand. My parents don't abuse me, no really. It's not that they hurt me for no reason. I love them." Alice was watching me thoughtfully.

"I won't ask anything else today. We can save that for later." She spoke clearly, trying not to disturb our insightful discussion.

"So what's your secret?" I asked, trying to dispel the awkwardness that had surrounded us.

Alice's sad look disappeared from her face. "Well mine's not nearly as important." She began reluctantly. I rolled my eyes, still trying to liven the mood. She laughed slightly. "To make long short, I can kind of see the future." She said bluntly.

"Oh?" I inquired, half assuming she was kidding. "And how can you kind of see the future?"

"I'm serious." She said with a frown. The smile dropped from my face. "I really can see it."

"How?"

"It was how I knew to find you at the park, or how I knew you were hurt last week. It was how I knew you were in that classroom too. I saw it in my dreams."

"How?" I repeated, allowing the information to sink in. I almost laughed realizing that I was not too far off with mind-reading. Alice didn't look upset as she continued.

"I don't really know. I guess I have always had them. I see things in my sleep and then they happen. It can't be explained, not really. My parents don't know, and aside from Bella, you're the only person who knows." She smiled.

"You're the only person I told about me, too. What are your visions usually about?"

"Stupid things. Usually they are just stuff that will happen to me that day, or at least that will effect me. The only difference now is that I have had a dream about you." She said, looking me in the eyes.

I didn't have long to consider the fact that she could truly see the future because the bell interrupted our stare. Alice looked up at the clock. It was the end of lunch, but neither of us moved.

We would be late, that was for certain. It took several moments to walk to our respective lockers and even more time to get to our next class. For some reason, that did not bother me. I stood still, watching her carefully.

"Did your dad do that to your arm?" Alice asked abruptly. I was surprised by this, but my eyes immediately trailed to the bandage I had wrapped around my wrist. There was no sense to lying now.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I think it's broken. It's been harder to move and it just won't stop hurting." I tried to keep a nonchalant tone so she wouldn't be worried.

"You have to get it set!" She exclaimed with worry the predominant emotion in her voice. "You won't get full range of motion if you wait too long! Let's go to the hospital." She continued frantically, grabbing my left arm in an attempt to pull me.

I didn't move. Alice looked up in alarm to me. "Jasper?" She asked softly.

"You don't get it. Nobody can know. You shouldn't know." I pleaded to her, hoping this was not a mistake.

I lowered my gaze to the floor, but for the second time today, Alice put her finger on my chin and pulled my face toward her. "Jasper, I understand." She whispered, just inches from my face. "But know that I will find a way to help you. I will." She said in a firm, but quiet voice. "And Jasper?"

"Yeah?" I whispered back to her, for some reason being quiet.

"I think I love you." She sighed, leaning closer to me. Unconsciously, I found myself doing the same. Our lips were nearly touching.

"Alice?" I found myself saying.

"Hmm?"

"I think I love you too." I murmured. I leaned closer, closing in on the space. And as I kissed her, I realized that I wasn't lying. Alice knew the second I did. I loved Alice Brandon, and I think I had for a while.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Alice Point of View

It had been two days since me and Jasper had our discussion. It had been two days since he told me the complete truth, two days since I had done the same. But out of all of the events from those past two days, the one thing that stuck out in my mind was apparent.

It had been two days since I had confessed my apparent love for Jasper, and two days since he told me that he reciprocated that same love.

It's almost ironic how such a serious, hardly-laughable and partially disturbing discussion can be completely side-stepped and changed into an almost fond moment. Before that, I understood that Jasper was the recipient of my overwhelming obsession. I knew that I found myself completely absorbed in what he did. But the extent was unknown to me.

That is why it surprised me as much as it did him when I leaned in for a kiss-a real kiss- and actually told a boy that I loved him. It was the content of movies, of books, but not real life. Real relationships move at a slow pace, have their ups and downs, but suddenly real life has no hold on me.

I had experienced love at first sight, or close to it. I can't think back to my life before Jasper. Everything I did reflected our conversations, brief as they may be. I was literally obsessed in every sense of the word.

But a surprising fact was that Jasper seemed to have no problem with this. He followed along with a free will. Apparently, he didn't mind hanging out with obsessed fan girls. That, or I am a surprisingly good actress.

Whatever the reason, I didn't ponder it to long. I was almost to lunch. Well, I was almost to Jasper's locker. My plans were not directly focused on the food, but more importantly on what was going to transpire while consuming the food.

I had an extra bounce in my step from the anticipation as I anxiously waited in front of his locker. It didn't surprise me that he had yet to arrive. I ran from class, an everyday ritual by now, and headed straight here. In fact, it was not for several minutes until Jasper finally did show.

He was meandering, a habit I found annoying, down the hall. I tapped my foot and leaned against his locker. "Finally," I sighed when he approached.

"Annoyed with me already?" He asked. I stepped aside from his locker when he motioned for me to. When I responded, his eyes where searching the contents of his nearly empty locker.

"I'm actually waiting for you to get annoyed with me." I replied honestly. This may or may not have caught him by surprise; his face was not directed to me. Nevertheless, he responded without missing a beat.

"But on the contrary, I find you quite amusing."

I chuckled and raised my eyebrows. "Amusing, huh? I might find that offensive."

"Sure you do," He said mockingly. The object in my hands caught his attention. "You packed a lunch today?" Jasper asked in surprise.

I nodded. "Its supposed to be warm today, I thought we could sit outside."

"It might be crowded." He said thoughtfully. I smirked.

"Not where I am going." I said with an impish tone, heading for the exit without waiting for a response. I could hear his footsteps as I walked through the almost empty hallways.

"Here I thought I was the experienced student and you were practically new here." He muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

"You have the roles switched." I laughed. Conversations between us have been noticeably lighter after we both cleared ourselves of our lies. Adding that to the fact that the weather was surprisingly nice today, our banter had taken a pleasant tone.

By the time I made it to my destination, the hallways where completely cleared. I dramatically looked both ways before opening up a door that lead us outside. Nobody was out there either. We were on the opposite side of the school as the outdoor lunchroom and the other children could not even be heard.

"How did you know this was out here?" Jasper asked. "I didn't know about this." He looked around at his surroundings, at the single picnic table and the lone tree, before looking at me, waiting for my response.

"I can see the future, how do you think?" I responded loftily. Jasper didn't seem to believe me because his posture remained the same, still waiting for a response. "Maybe Rosalie told me about it." I conceded. This explanation made more sense to him because he walked over to sit down at the picnic bench.

I followed him over and sat directly in front of him on the opposite side of the table. I sat my bag in between us and wordlessly began to empty the contents of the bag: two sandwiches, two apples, two bags of chips and two cookies.

"Hungry are we?" Jasper asked in confusion.

"It's for the both of us." I said simply, organizing the food into two groups, one for me and one for him.

"Alice," He began softly in a serious tone. "You know I can't accept any of this-" He continued, but I cut him off before he could get any farther.

"I know, we went over this yesterday. But today is an exception. Today, I have a favor of you, so you will eat it, right?" I asked in a condescending tone, as if he was a child. I was only joking, and Jasper knew that.

"Fine," He sighed, already giving up. I had to fight the grin that was threatening to emerge. If it was this easy to make him concede, things will be quite a bit simpler than I imagined.

I watched him eat as I did the same. We ate a slow pace, mine matching his. It was not until both of our lunches were completely gone did I speak up.

"So now that I filled my half of the bargain, its time that you paid yours." I smirked.

Jasper looked up at me confused. He tilted his head slightly to the side, silently asking what I meant by that.

"Well because I gave you food, it's your turn to help me out." I laughed exuberantly.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "What do you want me to do?" He asked suspiciously. My grin increased inside.

"Jasper," I sighed dramatically. "I want you to meet my parents."

In a flurry around the room, I scrambled to find the missing earring to complete my outfit. It was the set I had been given for my thirteenth birthday, but it would match perfectly with the attire I had on. Currently, I only possessed one of two earrings. Why they would be separated was a mystery in its own, but I was determined to have this evening go perfectly.

Everything was so surreal. Sure, I had assumed that the events preceding this meeting would go without a hitch, but never in my wildest dreams would I assume them to have gone as far as they have.

Jasper, after only a few minutes of arguing, finally agreed that he was in my debt. Who knew a lunch could be equivalent to meeting my parents in his eyes? Part of me felt guilty. I knew the moment I pouted to him his resolve would crumble. If he had asked me for help, I probably would have done the same. I schemed him into it, and he followed along.

So it wasn't _really _my fault, was it? Even it was, he wouldn't be hurt, or hopefully not. My dad_ can_ be pretty intimidating. I know_ I'm_ not looking forward to informing my parents of our guest. I should have told them earlier, but I decided to wait until the last second. That way, they have no option but to set another plate and meet him.

I was giddy as I picked up some lip gloss and smeared it onto my lips. I was even more nervous as I ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to mess up the spiky clumps. As usual, my efforts were rewarded. When I next looked into the mirror, I looked as best as I could in such a short period of time and hopefully, I was ready to go downstairs.

I told Jasper to come at five-thirty. It was five-fifteen. I cautiously walked down the stairs and around the corner into the kitchen. My mom was fiddling with the last of dinner and my dad was sorting through the fridge for some type of food, I assume. When I walked in, my mom looked over and took in my appearance.

She raised her eyebrow. "Going somewhere?" She asked suspiciously. My dad looked up from the fridge intent on listening to my answer.

I tried to make an innocent expression, one that would have them agreeing with me. "Well," I began cautiously. "I was sitting at lunch and I might have-accidentally of coarse-invited a friend to dinner tonight." I continued, speaking faster at the end.

"And you didn't tell us until now?" My dad inquired.

I shrugged meekly. "I forgot."

My mom chuckled. She shook her head before pointing out the fault in my quick lie. "You just felt like getting all dressed up, huh?"

"Maybe," I laughed.

"Who did you invite? We still haven't met Bella or Rosalie or any of your other friends." My dad said in a good mood. I sighed in relief. At least now I wouldn't be in trouble for that, not until I inform him that "my friend" might be of the opposite gender. I could guarantee that he would not be a happy camper at that time.

Looking for a way to avoid the question, I walked over to inspect my mother's food. It was some kind of chicken that smelt fairly good. "Have I had this before?"

My mom shook her head no. "I was reading the newspaper and there were a few recipes in there. I thought we could try one tonight. It's supposed to be incredibly healthy for you."

"Did it mention how it tastes?" I asked in exasperation. Hopefully it was not one of those under-seasoned, nutrition packed dishes that have little to no taste. For some reason, my mom seemed attracted by those kinds of meals. They usually smelt amazing, even looked good, but typically they reminded me more of cardboard than edible food.

My dad gave me a firm stare at the slightly defiant tone in my voice. I rolled my eyes and he shook his head laughing to himself. "When I was young-" He began, but I interrupted before he could continue.

"Yes, we know that the radio was invented, as well as electricity. Not to mention the fact that you had to walk ten miles to school, up hill, in the rain or snow. We got it." I said in an exaggerated playful manner.

"I was going to tell you that we would never speak in such a way to our parents. We respected them." He laughed, declaring me a lost cause. I gave him an impish grin before opening the fridge to look for something to drink.

I wasn't really thirsty, but I was as anxious as I could be. Wound up, I immediately shut the fridge door and walked into the front room. There, I would have a view of outdoors. I would have a slight forewarning before my parents. Hopefully, within those thirty seconds, I could inform them of their wrong assumptions and they could be somewhat polite to Jasper. That, of course, was only a maybe.

I still had about ten minutes before Jasper was even supposed to be here, and Jasper was typically late, so why I was already on the lookout was unbeknownst to me. I just couldn't sit in the kitchen.

The scene outside the window was generic and gloomy; however, the saturnine weather was typical for Forks. It was slightly misting, but just enough. I had a feeling that if you stood out in this rain long enough, you could still get wet.

I anxiously surveyed through the glass trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in my stomach. I was so excited, so nervous, that it hurt. I stood up and smoothed out my clothes. I took a few steps, and then regretted it and went back to my previous position.

Minutes were droning on. Every time I would look at the clock, only seconds had gone by. I needed everything to go smoothly, but more importantly, I need everything to _go. _Time was now at a standstill. It was hours before the clock finally caught up with my uneasy mind.

I saw Jasper approach the house four minutes late on foot. He was wearing the clothes he had on at school and his hair was still messy. The only difference between now and when I had last seen him was the fact that he was thoroughly drenched. In that attire, Jasper would have to work hard for my parent's approval. I sighed and turned to confront them about our guest.

Jasper POV

I nervously walked up the small steps leading to Alice's house and rung the doorbell. I waited, stepping from one foot to the next. This was a huge mistake, but like always, I found myself lead down the path by my own stupidity. I should never had agreed to meet Alice's parents.

Alice asked, and although I initially resisted, I had to admit that spending more time with Alice was definitely a good thing. I reluctantly agreed, but now, hours later, I realize my folly.

Alice was just too hard to resist. Everything about our relationship was wrong, even the fact that we spend any time together whatsoever. Why then, do I feel like everything is so right?

Even as the door opened to reveal the girl I couldn't stop thinking about, I felt my heart rise up. I already could barely contain my smile when she open the door just a bit wider. Alice was slowly filling every one of my thoughts, slowly but surely.

I ran my hand through my wet hair before offering a nervous grin. Alice smiled wider and grabbed my hand to pull me in. I jumped slightly at the movement, but I doubt she noticed it.

"Hey," She whispered softly. I tilted my head slightly in confusion. It was not Alice to speak so quietly. "Okay, so maybe my dad is scared to meet you, but I swear it's not my fault!" She exclaimed, still whispering.

"What are you talking about?"

"I just told my dad, like, five seconds ago that you were a guy. He might not like that. I'm sorry." She winced. I shook my head, chuckling under my breath. Was she serious?

"Don't worry about me, Alice." I laughed. "I can handle a little bit of disapproval." Alice's face fell at this, but I tried to ignore it. I couldn't help the pang of regret that shot through me at this. I had hurt Alice. I tried to smile, to remain oblivious, and I think she believed me. When I looked back to Alice, she continued to smile.

"Time to meet the 'rents." She whispered into my ear. I felt a rush of nervousness at the prospect at meeting her parents, despite the fact I knew they would be nice enough. Alice must have seen my face because she immediately went out to comfort me. "I promise they don't bite."

I felt embarrassed she was so worried about me. "No, it's okay." I tried to smile. Alice seemed to believe my façade once again, but she still looked worried.

"You sure?"

"Alice, I'm fine." I reassured her. This time, she seemed more sure of me, even if she seemed a bit hesitant. "Just trust me." I said calmly before trying to change the subject. "Are your parents in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, follow me." She brightened at my words. "Trust me, they're not too bad." She whispered as we walked into the kitchen. I was greeted by two adults in their mid-forties as we rounded the corner. I immediately felt underdressed seeing their work clothes and Alice's nice outfit.

"You must be Jasper." A woman said. She had brown, straight hair that hung just above her shoulders. Although her hair was down, everything about Alice's mom seemed strict and professional. The women stuck out her hand to shake mine.

"That'd be me." I nodded, taking her hand. I smiled awkwardly before averting my gaze over to Mr. Brandon. He was wearing nice cloths. It seemed slightly out of place with the fact he was carrying plates over to the table. Seeing that he wasn't about to introduce himself, I looked back to Mrs. Brandon.

"Well, it's nice to have you over for dinner." She said looking over to her husband for a second.

"It's nice to be over."

"The food's over here." She said, pointing to the table. "If you want to grab a plate, we can sit down." She continued, trying to keep everything going. I wouldn't say the atmosphere was tense, but it could surely be a bit better. I tried to ease things by smiling. But as I grabbed a plate and walked behind Alice to the dinner table, I was not for sure it worked.

"Thank you." I said, trying to think of what to say. I gave a quick glance to Alice before sitting down. She was smiling, seemingly ignorant of the fact her dad had yet to say anything.

But as soon as I thought that, Mr. Brandon spoke up, skipping most of the pleasantries. "So I hear you're in the same grade as Alice." He said, more of a statement than a question. His voice was gruff, but I could tell by the way his hands were placed that this was all an act. Nevertheless, I was completely serious when I responded.

"Yes, sir." I nodded.

"Are you fifteen or sixteen?" He asked in that same voice. I kept eye contact when I replied promptly.

"Just turned sixteen." I said truthfully.

"Well I hope you don't drive Alice anywhere." He said in a disapproving tone. I almost grinned thinking of this.

"I don't have my license yet." I said, still being honest. I think this was the only time where I was actually grateful that neither my dad nor my mom thought it was okay for me to drive.

"And why not?" Mr. Brandon asked. His voice was already losing its gruff tone, matching both his looks and his assumed personality. "Fail the test?"

"I just haven't taken the time to do so, I don't have any need." I responded quickly. It was the partial truth, but that was only because the actuality was not something to go around telling people. I'm sure Alice's dad would not approve of me telling him that it was because I got in trouble.

"I'm sure you could have used it tonight." His mom laughed, looking out the window near her. The typical misting had escalated to a steady downpour. "Did you walk the entire way?"

"It only started to rain harder after I left." I tried to dismiss the statement. Alice's mom didn't say anything further.

"So you have no other reason not to get your license." Mr. Brandon said seriously. His voice held slight disappointment. "I see." I had no idea how to respond, so I remained quiet, my eyes slightly downward. "You're pretty tall for you're age." He said. I was surprised by the subject change, but leapt for it.

"Both my mom and my dad are tall." I said, thinking of my thick-muscled father and my willowy mother. Before I could continue, Mr. Brandon cut me off.

"Pretty thin, too." He said with disapproval. I was unsure of what to say. I fumbled around before Alice spoke up.

"Is this an interrogation?" She laughed with acquisition in her eyes. I had almost completely forgotten the girl sitting next to me throughout the meal. I looked over to her in gratitude. This seemed to brighten her mood further.

Alice's father seemed upset about being interrupted, but he did not ask any more questions. In fact, it was Alice's mom who asked another question.

"So are you into any sports?"

I thought about answering truthfully for a moment. That was before realizing what a stupid idea that was. I doubt telling Alice's parents about my strict no-fun policy at home would be completely normal. I opted to go for the half truth. "I enjoy them, but I'm pretty busy outside of school. I don't play any team sports."

"How'd you hurt your arm then?" Alice's dad asked with mild curiosity. He must have attributed it to a sports–related injury. I remembered Alice telling me her dad was a doctor, so I was hesitant to answer.

"I had an accident." I replied vaguely.

"What kind?" Her dad asked, more persistent.

"I fell down the stairs. I was trying to carry too many things down at once." The last story I had used was forgotten, so I used the first thing that had popped into my head. It was believable.

Alice's dad nodded to himself. I could almost see the visible difference in him as he slipped into his doctor mode. As he continued questioning me, it was spoken very differently from the previous inquisitions. "When did it happen?"

It took me a second to think things over. It was almost hard to think of my life before my thoughts constantly remained on Alice. Waiting patiently, Mr. Brandon said nothing as I thought. "About two weeks ago."

"Did you get in to see a doctor?" I was getting sick of his inquiries, but I also wanted to avoid lying if possible. I answered honestly, whether I truly wanted to or not.

"It wasn't that bad." I said, hopefully making my broken bone sound like a bruise.

"It still hurts him sometimes." Alice jumped in. I almost wanted to glare at the girl, but I refrained. Alice had a smirk on her face when I glanced over. I shook my head slightly to try and signal from her to stop, but she seemed to be conveniently ignorant.

"Still? And you haven't seen anybody for it?" Mrs. Brandon jumped in, looking shocked. I shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. Inside, I was panicking slightly. Please say they don't think anything is wrong.

"It's not that bad. It just hurts a bit." I admitted, still hoping I sounded relaxed. Mrs. Brandon looked doubtful, but Alice's dad was just staring at me thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should get in soon for it." He said as if he was going to drop the subject.

"I should." I sighed, relieved. He probably wouldn't mention it again. I picked up my fork and began to eat my forgotten chicken. It was absolutely amazing. I wanted to shore it down my throat, and possibly lick the plate. But somehow, I doubt the Brandons would appreciate me doing that.

It was not that food was scarce back home, but I was often denied meals of some sort. Whether it be because I didn't fold the towel correctly or I was thirty seconds late to dinner, it always seemed that I missed out on dinner, lunch, breakfast, or all of the above. I was interrupted from my retrospective thoughts less then a minute later when Alice spoke up.

"Can you pass the broccoli?" She asked delicately. I shifted my eyes to her, and then to the broccoli. It was to the right of me while Alice was on my left. Groaning, I reached my left hand across my body to grab the bowl and pass it onto Alice.

I knew this must have looked awkward. The typical response would have been to grab it with my right hand, pass it to my left, and then hand it over to Alice. However, I could not manage to do that seeing as my right hand was incapacitated.

"So you can't use it at all?" Mr. Brandon asked suddenly, still looking at my right hand. I wanted to growl in frustration. I was gritting my teeth as I slowly shook my head no. "Can I take a look at it?" He asked. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him absolutely not, but Mrs. Brandon unknowingly interrupted me from doing so.

"After dinner, hun." She said absently, probably having to deal with her husband's behavior often. I was glad the attention was off me momentarily and I used this time to take a look at Alice.

She had that same grin on her face and I could not help but feel that she must have planned all of this, or had at least seen it in the future. I knew I could not be mad at her, but I also knew from my serious thoughts that I did not look happy.

Alice's face fell a little bit. She looked at me apologetically and mouthed a quick _"Sorry," _before her mother asked her a question.

"So how did you and Jasper meet?"

Alice looked excited at the prospect of talking, obviously pleased that the attention was on her. She thought for the briefest of seconds before starting her small tale. "We're in the same History class. And, we have mutual friends." She started, sounding as if she was about to go much further into detail.

"And who would that be?" Mr. Brandon cut her off before she could get started. Alice needed no time to think as she rattled off the four names.

"Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward." She said, touching the tip of her finger with the other as she spoke. It was as if she was counting them off.

"So you know all of them too?" Mrs. Brandon asked, looking over to me. I nodded.

"Yes, I met them a few years ago." I said, thinking back to when I had first met Edward. I had been much closer to him then, before he began to get suspicious.

"And that's how you guys met?" She asked, gesturing between me and Alice just to make it clear who she was talking about.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded. Alice jumped up as I spoke and placed her dishes near the sink on the other side of the kitchen. Following her lead, I stood up and place my nearly spotless plate next to hers, feeling quite full.

I walked slowly back to the table and slid into the chair next to Alice. Mrs. Brandon stacked her plate with Mr. Brandon's and then walked them over to the sink herself. Alice's dad looked almost eager the second I sat down. I didn't want to know what he was thinking.

"Can I look at your arm now?" He asked, pointing to my arm. I looked down to my injured arm with its swollen fingers and fraying bandage. I wanted to say no, but I knew that if Alice took after her dad, there was no way he would back down.

"Um," I mumbled, trying to think of an excuse. I couldn't. "Sure, but I don't know if you want to." I said, trying to discourage him. It was to no avail.

"Here, come sit over here on the couch." He said, standing up. I sent Alice a scared look, but she seemed to be doing nothing to avoid this confrontation. Anger surged up. I was helpless.

I didn't know what to do and I was not in control. I needed to do _something, _anything would do. Alice looked perfectly comfortable trailing behind us. I slowly sat down on the couch next to the armchair. This was not going to be good.

Alice Point of View

Dinner was a mess. Not only was the food terribly bland, but my dad would not stop firing off questions. I was surprised Jasper handled himself so well. My dad was not always the easiest person to be around.

Jasper did okay at dinner. I could tell my dad at least somewhat liked him. At least he didn't kick Jasper out; I wouldn't put that past him. Of course, he did jump for the idea of looking at Jasper's hand. He was forever the doctor. I might have slightly encouraged him, but it was all in Jasper's best interest.

Jasper caught on to what I was doing the second I asked for him to pass the broccoli. I didn't really want any more vegetables, but I could not pass up the perfect opportunity.

I don't think Jasper will be too mad. Aside from looking slightly panicky, Jasper looked fine now. He was clenching his working hand over and over again, his eyes downward.

I knew that what I was doing was risky, but the idea popped in my head so fast with no forewarning, I had no chose but to act upon it. I may not have thought through the consequences, but I don't think there is much worse than losing a limb.

I don't know much about medical science, but you don't have to be a genius to recognize that leaving your broken arm alone is not the best idea. I could tell that it was still hurting Jasper quite a bit. Sometimes, when he moved his arm just the slightest bit, his face would contort in pain. It was just a flash, but I could recognize the expression.

I maneuvered myself over to sit next to Jasper on the couch. He looked so lonely sitting by himself. I felt guilty that I was the cause of his current discomfort, but I knew that in the long run it would be beneficial to him. I still whispered my apologies in his ear when it was just the two of us. Jasper looked up.

"Its okay," He mumbled. His tone was only half-hearted and I couldn't help but inch a tad bit closer in hopes of making him feel better.

"Everything is going to be fine. Just relax." I continued to whisper, trying to quell his fears.

"They can't find out." He said, sounding as worried as he looked. "I'll be in trouble-"

Before he could continue, I cut him off. "Look Jasper, you can't leave your arm like this. I don't know what would happen if you did, but it would not be good. Trust me, its going to work out."

He didn't look like he was listening. It was all I could do not to grasp either side of his face and tell him that things were going to work out. Instead, I lightly rested my hand atop his injured arm, wishing that it would magically heal itself.

Jasper didn't respond. His gaze remained fixated on the floor, as usual. My dad would be back any second with his magical doctor bag, but I knew it wouldn't do much. We would end up going to the hospital if it was indeed broken.

Jasper was silent and I had no idea what to say. I didn't want to worry him more and comforting people was not my forte. We sat in silence for a moment until my dad walked into the room.

"Let's see what we have here." He said in his doctor-voice. I almost wanted to groan out loud. My dad was so embarrassing.

"You don't need to do this, Mr. Brandon." Jasper responded, most likely trying to get my dad to forget all about this. I knew that would not happen.

"It's really no problem." My dad said as he sat down on the chair near Jasper. He motioned for Jasper to hold out his arm. He did so very reluctantly. "This won't hurt." My dad laughed seeing Jasper's expression.

Jasper tried to laugh along.

My dad lightly touched the bandage, looking for the start. Once he did so, he slowly began to unravel the cloth. I was practically biting my nails from anxiety. This could go either way. Things could be fine and reactions could be normal _or _everything could get blown out of proportion.

Jasper straightened up when my dad began to jostle his arm around. It hurt him. This was the expression that caused me to start this entire scheme. I had to do it, for Jasper's sake.

When my dad got off the entire wrap, he closely inspected the arm. He didn't need to. I may not have a medical degree, I may not watch medical dramas on television, but I could tell that this was not a normal wrist. I wanted to gag at the sight.

It was bent in an odd angle, as if Jasper was trying to push only his wrist up while keeping the rest of his hand down. The skin was paler than the rest of him and had clearly not seen fresh air in a while. I winced alongside Jasper this time.

I had to bite back the tears. It was like looking at pictures of war victims, but worse. I knew Jasper, personally, and I could not help the sinking feeling in my stomach nor could I cease the cold spasm that ran down my spine from the horrific sight.

My dad's reaction was nonexistent. He merely examined his wrist with a detached mind. Jasper was shifting his weight nervously, waiting for my dad to react.

But when he did, it was not with the expected response. He calmly looked up to Jasper. "Well, there's not much I can do here. We need to get you up to the hospital." It was clear that my dad was still in doctor mode. His calm face surveyed Jasper's as he stood up. "Stay right here, I will be back in a second." My dad commanded, completely authoritative.

I watched Jasper carefully. He did not move. For once, he was not fidgeting or shaking, or shifting his weight. He was calm and still, looking down at his arm. I didn't know what to say, it was like he wasn't completely on the same plane as us now.

"Jasper?" I called out weakly, wanting to hear his reassuring voice. Jasper jerked slightly, caught off guard, and turned his head to face me. He was emotionless. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Alice." He said, sliding into his more familiar self. In the blink of an eye he was back to his usual self, and that almost worried me. As if he was reading my train of thought, Jasper reached out and grasped my hand with his good one. "I knew what it looked like. Just because you can see it doesn't make it worse."

I was going to respond, tell him that he shouldn't have to feel it at all, when my dad in walked with a superior step. "Okay, Jasper." He said, sitting down on the chair facing him. "Is your arm hurting more than before?" My dad asked, despite the fact that his tone of voice indicated that he already knew the answer.

Jasper shrugged. "I guess." He mumbled under his breath, barely audible. I doubt my dad even heard him.

Paying no attention to the reluctant answer, my dad leaned a bit closer to Jasper, reaching out for his arm. It was then that I noticed that my dad had something in his hands. "Without your wrap, the car ride might be pretty jostling. I'm going to wrap this towel around for some support. It's the best I could manage."

There was one thing that I really loved about in these types of situations about my dad. He didn't ask any more questions, simply dealt with the issue at hand. I was watching my dad carefully place Jasper's arm onto the towel when he shooed me away. That was one thing I definitely did not love about him in these types of events.

"Alice, can you go tell your mother we will be heading out to the hospital. And grab your cell phone, too." He commanded. I sighed, contemplated defying his wishes, and then decided it was best to leaving.

Giving one last farewell look at Jasper, who had his eyes still fixed on his arms, I turned to leave. I didn't want to leave him alone for too long, so when I went to look for my mom, I jogged about until I found her in the most obvious place for her after dinner, the kitchen.

She was doing the dishes absently when I walked in. She looked up when she must have heard my footsteps. "Something wrong?" She asked, taking in my expression.

I nodded in conformation. "Dad says we have to take Jasper up to the hospital, his arm's broken." I sighed forlornly. My mom looked slightly taken aback for a moment, but then followed my dad's same policy about not asking questions. "Are you coming?" I asked, wanting to know if my mom was to be accompanying us.

She shook her head no. "I'm going to stay back. But if you need anything, do not hesitate to call me." There was concern in her eyes as she spoke with sincerity.

After exchanging momentary goodbyes, I ran up the stairs to grab my cell phone. In a matter of minutes, I was back to Jasper and my dad. Only this time, they were both standing. My dad had his hands on both of Jasper's shoulders and was gently leading him outside.

But despite my dad's light touch, Jasper looked extremely shaken. His shoulders were hunched slightly and he was trembling. My dad must have assumed it was from the pain. When in actuality, it could have been a number of things.

"Do you have your cell phone?" My dad asked once Jasper was seated in the car.

"Yes I do," I said quickly, sliding in next to Jasper. As my dad walked around the car to get in, I look over to my friend. "Having fun?" I said in a more serious tone than the words implied. Jasper gave me a small smirk.

My dad noisily got into the car before I could continue, interrupting me with his question. "Do you want to call your dad now, Jasper?" He asked, turning around to look before he pulled out. Jasper nodded slowly.

I almost didn't want to hand Jasper my phone, but I did so reluctantly. He grabbed my cell and began to type in his number. He held it up to his left ear. Luckily-or maybe not so much- I was on his left side, clearly able to hear both sides of the conversation.

The phone rang, and on the second round, I heard a girl's voice pick up. It sounded the same as the girl from my last visit to Jasper's. "Hello?" She asked in that same tone she had used last time I had seen her.

"Amanda?" Jasper responded, sounding almost like a question. He did not give her time to respond, immediately cutting to the chase. "I need to talk to our father."

There was silence on the other side. Eventually, I heard a quiet response. I had to lean in to hear. "Jasper," She started, changing tone completely. "Why did you go out? He's really mad."

I gulped. Jasper's sister sounded scared. Jasper took a breath, but when he responded his voice was completely devoid of emotion. "Just give him the phone." He demanded. I took the silence on the other line as compliance to Jasper's order.

"Jasper." I heard a gruff voice say after a moment. I felt Jasper shudder immediately.

"Dad, I'm in the car with a friend and her parent. They saw my arm and thought it needed medical attention." Jasper stated, leaving my name out. I couldn't help but wonder if this was intentional.

The response was inaudible. Whatever he said, I felt Jasper shiver once again. "Yes, sir." There was another pause. "I will see you then."

Jasper took the phone and hung up. He handed it to me without a word. I didn't say anything either. My dad, having not heard the conversation, felt absolutely none of terror emanating from the back.

"So will your dad be there?"

Jasper's faced looked paler than usual. He nodded, even if my dad could not see. "Yeah, he'll be there."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Alice Point of View

When we arrived at the hospital, Jasper's fidgety moving seemed only to increase. He stood up, his arm close to his body for protection, and followed my dad into the big doors. I hung behind only slightly, remaining close to Jasper.

Everything was going horribly, and I was sincerely regretting my previous decision. Jasper hadn't yelled at me, not even giving me the cold shoulder. I knew that he may just be in shock from it all. But so far, he seemed to be rather collected.

The only indicator that he was not as relaxed as he acted was his tense muscles. His shoulders were stiff and his movements slightly jerky. I wanted to reach over and try to comfort him, but I was probably the last one he wanted to do so. I did put him in this situation.

Upon entering, I took note of the spacious, clean waiting room. It looked like it could have been anywhere. But at the same time, it had an undertone of that style doctors had to incorporate with everything they did. The smell of antiseptic overcame any other previous scent that may have lingered. I didn't like this room.

I wouldn't say I hated hospitals, nor would I stress my distaste of them, but going to the hospital meant something was wrong. And obviously, I didn't like things to go wrong. Calamities were not my specialty.

Of course, on the other hand, my dad _is _a doctor, so clearly, not every trip to the hospital was bad. This one was. Nervousness bit at my stomach as I inched just slightly closer to Jasper. He seemed to take no notice of my actions, his eyes fixed on some obscure object.

Wanting to see his face once before he was whisked away by other doctors, I lightly touched his arm to get his attention. He turned his head slightly. I took in the anxious, almost fearful, expression and wondered why nobody else pointed it out. "Be okay?" I said. My statement turned more into a question from the worried tone in my voice.

"Sure," He nodded. His voice betrayed none of his inner-feelings, and I found myself wishing that it had. At least I would understand him a little bit better.

"Do you think your dad will be here soon?" I asked, but immediately regretted it. The second I spoke the words, Jasper tensed more than he already had been.

"I don't know." He said with his eyes downward once again. I sighed; I was making little headway when it came to our relationship. He still looked scared around me. I suppose I shouldn't be offended, he was that way with everybody, but I was. I knew it wasn't his fault, I shouldn't have been disappointed.

I looked up to my dad. He was just two steps ahead of me and Jasper, heading straight to the desk where a nurse sat. She looked young enough, only a few years older than myself. With her mousy brown hair and thin frame, she did not impose confidence in me, but my dad seemed to recognize her.

"Sarah," He said with a nod. It was his formal way of greeting his coworkers. The nurse, Sarah, looked up the moment he spoke.

"Dr. Brandon, what are you doing here?" She asked in that same professional manor, but I could hear the surprise in her voice. "It's not your work shift already, is it?"

"My daughter's friend broke his arm. We need to get it x-rayed."

"Are his parents already here?" She asked, immediately shifting through some stray papers as she stood up.

"Not yet, but they will be here in a minute or two. They don't live far, do they?" My dad asked, turning to Jasper. Jasper shook his head, a serious expression on his face that beat my father's.

"No, sir. It's less than a five minute drive." Jasper said. I wanted to tell him something, anything, but not in front of my dad. I opted for holding his unbroken arm, trying to stay as close as possible.

My father nodded and turned back to the nurse. They whispered together for a few minutes, obviously waiting for Jasper's father to get here. I kept an eye on Jasper as the seconds ticked by. Jasper did not look at me until I spoke.

"I'm sorry." I apologized again. That was the third time I had apologized tonight. Jasper recognized this, and chuckled. I smiled, happy that I had caused this reaction.

"We'll discuss this later." He said, clearly not serious. I gave him a devious smile. Out of nowhere, I felt a pressure on my shoulder. Jumping slightly, I turned to see who had placed their hand on my shoulder. Judging from Jasper's fading smile, I could already tell I would not like this person.

It was a man. I had seen him before, but he looked quite a bit different than he had last time. He had thick features, but he was clearly not overweight. With his curly blond hair and blue eyes, had I been twenty years older, he might have been somewhat attractive. He might have been, had I not recognized him. He was the man in my vision. The one with a gaunt, emotionless visage. It was not a face easily forgotten.

It was Jasper's father.

Jasper stepped forward so that he was almost between us, like he was protecting me. He had tensed further, if that was even possible. I felt his surge of emotion as it was mine.

"Is this your friend, Jasper?" He asked. He spoke with a confident voice, sure of himself, but other than that I detected no clear indicator of his true temperament. He had a predominant southern accent, one that Jasper had only a faint remnant of.

Jasper was the picture of solemnity. His mouth was pressed into a firm line when he slowly nodded. "Yes, sir." He offered no further information.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to her?" He said, smiling and cheerful. Jasper looked between me and him, but did not say anything.

I didn't want Jasper to get in trouble knowing he was already in enough because of me. Before the silence could be prolonged, I held out my hand for him to shake. "My name's Alice." I said with a false smile.

He shook my hand, and it was all I could do not to cringe. His hand, the hand that was touching me right now, was the hand that left scars. I wanted to let go and dunk my filthy fingers into a pool of hand sanitizer. I continued to smile.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Alice. I am Jasper's father." He said, grinning with the pleasantries. "If you don't mind, I am going to borrow Jasper for a minute."

Trying to think of an excuse as quickly as possible, I said the first thing that came to mind. "You can't!" I exclaimed. Mr. Whitlock looked taken aback before I hastily continued. "I mean, now that you're here, Jasper can go get x-rays and stuff."

Knowing that he couldn't use an excuse to have his son not get the medical treatment, Mr. Whitlock nodded. I was relieved to see that he agreed. Jasper nudged me forward with his good hand, over to my dad.

"There you are, Jasper!" My dad said when he saw us. "I was wondering where you ran off to. And I presume you must be Mr. Whitlock?" My dad inquired, noticing the man trailing behind us.

Jasper's dad nodded. "I never knew the severity of his injury. If only he had mentioned it to me earlier."

My dad shook his head. "It's not good to keep these kinds of secrets, Jasper." He scolded slightly. I couldn't help but wonder if this even seemed like punishment to Jasper. It was so slight in comparison to his father's treatment. Had my father been speaking to me that way, I might have been on the verge of tears.

Jasper did look sorry though, even if I knew it was an act put on for my father's benefit. I knew Jasper would do it all again if he could, excluding the part where he told me about it. "Sorry, sir" Jasper apologized.

I felt his emotions again. The shame, the sorrow, the anticipation. It all coursed through me as it did him. I closed my eyes.

"Well, you better get started. I bet your arm is hurting you, huh?" I heard my dad say. I opened my eyes to see Jasper nodding and Mr. Whitlock was about to say something.

"Thank you so much for alerting me of his condition. I don't know would have happened had you not." He said, looking so sincere that I had to remind myself that he was the culprit behind this all.

"Well, we better get going." My dad said again. I looked at him in surprise. I did not want to leave Jasper here all alone to deal with the monster.

"We're leaving?" I demanded immediately. My dad looked over to me confusion, as if I were crazy.

"Yes, Alice." He explained slowly. It was as if he was speaking to a toddler, the way he annunciated his syllables. I groaned inaudibly, waiting for him to finish his lecture. "It could be hours before this is all sorted out, maybe even overnight. You can see Jasper at school later this week."

I was about to object, but the look on Jasper's face told me not to. I shut my mouth and gave him a slight expression as if I was asking a question. He shook his head.

I had already messed up enough. I felt bad that I had forced Jasper here, even if it was for his own good. I reluctantly agreed with my father. "Okay. Bye Jasper." I said, purposefully ignoring the other interlocutor.

"It was nice meeting you, Alice." Mr. Whitlock said in his polite, southern talk. I wanted to glare or spit or say something terrible, but all I could muster was a short response.

"Yeah." I mumbled. My dad nodded in goodbye and I followed him out of the hospital. We walked out of the doors, both silent. I didn't spare a glance backward, knowing that if I did, I would not be able to restrain myself from clinging to Jasper for dear life.

It was not until we were back in the car did my father speak to me. "That wasn't very polite." He scolded slightly. I shrugged it off mentally, but rummaged through my brain for an excuse suitable for this situation. I couldn't think of one.

"I don't like him that much." I said lamely. My father turned a sharp eye onto me.

"And why's that?" He asked, looking back at the road as he threw his car into reverse.

I couldn't tell the truth, that I loathed ever fiber of that man's being because he likes to hurt his own son. I had promised Jasper I wouldn't tell anybody. "I don't know." I said in another lame excuse.

My father still managed to look surprised at my words. "I thought you would like him. He looked quite a bit like Jasper. He even acted pretty similar. Do you think?"

I couldn't help but shudder at his words. It took me a long time to muster out a response. I thought of Mr. Whitlock's calm, creepy demeanor. And then I thought of shy, nervous Jasper. "I could never see any similarities between the two." I said truthfully. "Ever."

Jasper Point of View

After Alice left, I felt like I was drowning. Just being in her presence for mere hours has made me accustomed to it. She was an energy, a life, a hope. I felt drawn in by her orbit like a satellite. Without her, I was just drifting in an expanse abyss.

And in that dark world rested my father, whose eyes never left mine after Alice was gone. He kept watch of my slight movements waiting for the nurse to come back and bring some of the never-ending paperwork.

My arm was still burning, but that was more because it was not encased in its familiar bandage rather than the fact that my attention had been drawn to it, though that was contributing. Typically, I was so focused onto something else that my mind spaced out that I had a broken arm, but there was little else to notice here. The only things I could feel were my arm and the gaze of my father's burning eyes, which was nearly as painful.

It felt like almost eternity waiting without Alice for the nurse to finally escort me toward a room. It was there that my memory began to fade. A prick of a needle, a distant hum of voices, and the periodic flare of pain.

Whatever was in the medicine addled my mind. It also masked the pain, but I could feel its undertone beneath the clouds of confusion. It was nice to feel so free. Through the haziness, I could not feel any anticipation for what waited for me at home. I was simply in the presence, maybe not even entirely so. I waited, rested, and dreamed.

Of course, that free feeling did not last forever, I began to come to in a hospital room with my father sitting next to me on the bed. I tried to ignore his thoughtful form by averting my eyes. I refused to look at the man. The walls were white, clean, and crisp as they are in every hospital.

There was another bed in the room, but it was unoccupied. Whatever time it was, I knew it was late. Looking out the window parallel to me, hardly anything was visible. I tried to remain limp as I looked around, but as expected, nothing escaped my father's notice. He looked down at me with a calm demeanor before pressing the alert button on the side of my bed, not speaking one word.

A nurse was in the room in moments, her gaze evaluating the room to see what was wrong. Before she could make a complete assessment, however, my father spoke. "He woke up." It was spoken simply and without elaboration.

The nurse turned her gaze to me. "Hey Jasper, how are you feeing?" Her voice was young and cheerful despite her middle-aged appearance. I cleared my throat to answer.

"I'm fine." I replied. My throat felt thick and heavy, as did all my extremities and even my head. It was like I was tired, but not sleepy. The nurse took my appearance into account before going into explanation as to why I was feeling the way I did.

"It's the medicine. You'll feel a bit groggy for a while, but as soon as you can eat some ice and drink some juice, you will be free to go. You might even be able to leave tonight."

I nodded, but I didn't feel like opening my mouth. The nurse frowned, but not very noticeably. "Would you like for me to get you some ice?"

In truth, ice or any food for that matter, sounded absolutely repulsive. My queasy stomach did not suggest I was hungry or thirty. However, by the look on my father face, which I watched out of the corner of my eye, he wanted me to agree. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Sure," I said aloud. My father seemed pleased that I was speaking, as did the nurse. She turned around to go get some, leaving just me and my father alone in the room.

"Act healthy." He commanded the second she left. Because she was gone, I allowed my eyelids to hang lower, affectedly closing my eyes. My posture slackened and it was all I could do to stay awake. "Act healthy." He said again with a more acerbic tone.

"Sir," I mumbled, my body betraying me. "I-I don't think I can stay awake." And with those words, I knew what I was saying was true. Despite my best efforts to stay awake, I could feel myself being brought back under into the realm of consciousness, never hearing his response.

When I was awake next, I could not tell how much time had passed. I could tell that it had been quite a few hours judging by the light from outside. It looked like it could be anywhere between morning to late afternoon. That narrowed it down to anytime that was light.

My father was not in his chair. I would have been surprised to hear that he left me, and I seriously doubted he would. I knew that he was most likely somewhere else in the room, taking a bathroom break, or something else along those lines. I turned my head to see if he was still in the room.

But I never did notice if he was there because at that moment, I felt a wave of pain rush over me. My arm, my neck, my face, everything was hurting me. I closed my eyes and waited for it all to end.

I heard footsteps toward me, lighter than my father's. There was a rustling motion on my hand before the pain began to ebb away. It had started and ended in less than a minute, but I could not but help to feel exhausted.

A different, younger nurse was here. She was not looking at me face, but was fixing up the IV in my hand. I watched her, not saying a word, until she looked up at me. "You know what?" She asked, talking more about me than to me. "You just have to be the hardest broken arm case in a while, don't you?" She laughed. And then, as if noticing I was awake for the first time, her eyes widened. "How are you feeling?" She asked in a rush.

I was much more alert this time and I felt I could talk, so I did so. "I'm fine." I said softly, still not wanting to speak loudly.

"Sure you are." She laughed again. "You weren't so fine a second ago."

I grimaced, hating how I had reacted so violently in public. I looked down to my feet, trying to avoid her piercing eyes. When she didn't speak, and instead went about messing with the various cords about me, I cleared my throat. I needed to know, to satisfy my curiosity. "What did you mean about the hardest case?" I asked softly.

She looked down to me in an almost maternal way, even though she looked like she was in her mid-twenties. "We had to re-break your arm, which is never good, but it was just too far along in the healing process. You fell off your bed last night, nearly broke your arm again. And to top it all off, you are just a nasty little patient." She laughed during the last part, and then ruffled my hair to assure me it was a joke. "You should get some more rest, and then your doctor will come in and explain everything. Are you in any pain?"

Some. I was in some pain, but I did not tell her that. I shook my head and she left, expecting me to go to sleep. I had forgotten to ask if she knew where my father was, but I was almost glad I did. I didn't have to worry about his return as much. Instead, I just closed my eyes and tried to forget this all.

I made a conscious effort not to look at the cast that was probably surrounding my arm. It was just a reminder that I had broken my father's rules, and I was to be punished when I got home. I counted the minutes until something happened, counting each second, one by one.

I hadn't made it to fifteen when my dad entered. I wouldn't have called him mad, just extremely frustrated. He walked in at a brief pace and sat down on the chair he had been sitting on last night. He didn't speak for several moments.

"Having fun, Jasper?" He asked in a snide voice. I looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he was referring to. "You've made me lie quite a bit in the last twenty-four hours, and lying is a sin. Are you trying to condemn me, Jasper?" He said, his voice getting darker with each word. I could tell by his speech that tonight was not going to be fun. I swallowed.

"You used to be my pride and joy, the oldest son. You were going to get my business, my name, everything. Who knew that with you came a disgrace, a mistake, a failure." He opened his mouth to say more, but the door opened.

The moment the doctor stepped into the room, my father was the picture of a happy family. He put his hand on top of mine and drew up the concerned dad look.

"Hello Mr. Whitlock, Jasper." The doctor said. He had no idea what he had just interrupted. "I'm Dr. Williams and I helped patch up your arm, Jasper." He looked to me when he said my name. "How are you feeling?"

I looked to my dad for a moment, whose steeling gaze still smoldered under the facade of caring. I then turned back to the doctor to answer. "I'm fine." I said for what felt like the billionth time.

The doctor nodded before sitting on a stool with wheels. He pushed himself so that I was in reach and touched my broken arm with heavy fingers. Pain lanced up my arm with the sight movement. "Is your arm hurting you?"

This time, I did not wait to respond. "It's fine."

The doctor nodded. He examined my arm quickly. I looked the other way when he did so. In a few minutes, he was done. He beckoned my dad outside without even speaking to me. I just closed my eyes as they walked around the corner. It didn't matter where they were going, as long as it was away from here.

But the moment I closed my eyes, I heard the door open again. Groaning that I could never get any rest, I opened my eyes.

"Jasper?" Carlisle Cullen asked. I looked up to see Edward's father standing in his doctor attire at the end of my bed. "What happened?"

"My arm was broken. I had to get it set." I said, not wanting to continue. I had not seen Mr. Cullen since we were at Edward's house more than a week ago. He did not look alarmed at this revelation.

"You hadn't been able to use it for a while, that makes sense." Mr. Cullen nodded in agreement to my diagnosis. "Where is your family?"

I hated how the entire Cullen family managed to make me feel sorry for myself without even trying. The innocent question brought on a pang of sorrow with it. I answered quickly, not wanting to think about it. "My dad went with Dr. Williams to discuss something."

"Ah," Mr. Cullen said. "And what happened to your face?" I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, my left hand automatically going to my check. What I found was new. There was a row of new stitched sewed onto the left side of my face.

I frowned. "I don't know, sir. I don't remember getting them." It sounded lame, but this time I was telling the truth.

"Do you mind if I have a look?" Mr. Cullen asked, gesturing to the clipboard at the end of my bed. I shook my head no, also wanting to know the reasoning behind my new wound.

I waited patiently for Mr. Cullen to read. He was talking to himself as he did so, but I could not hear what he was saying. When he looked up, I sent his a questioning look. "It says here that you rolled off your bed when you were recovering. You hit your head and nearly re-broke your arm." His words reminded me that the nurse from before mentioned something along those lines.

"How are you feeling, Jasper?" Mr. Cullen asked, looking at me with evaluating eyes. I shrugged.

"I'm fine."

Mr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. He didn't believe me. "Really?"

"Yes, sir" I responded quickly. Saving me, I heard Dr. Williams and my father enter the room as well.

"Hello Dr. Cullen." Dr. Williams said. "I see you have an interest in Jasper." He said with an unidentifiable emotion in his voice. Mr. Cullen shrugged.

"He's my son's friend. I was just going now though." He said before placing the clipboard back and leaving the room. Dr. Williams smiled and said his goodbyes before leaving too.

That left just me and my father in the room. I gulped nervously, despite knowing that nothing was going to happen in a hospital. "Just wait till we get home, Jasper." My father said, reminding me why I was so nervous.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Alice Point of View

I stared at the wall all night. My mom offered to take me up to the grocery store with her, but I rejected the proposition immediately. I couldn't fathom doing anything other than what I was doing at the moment, which was absolutely nothing.

If you stare at a wall long enough, or anything for that matter, you stop seeing. The objects become shapes and the simplicity of it all washes over your brain. Staring at the corner of my room, my thoughts arranged themselves without my consent, neatly compiling into different categories.

There were two groups. One was considerably smaller than the other, but held a much higher importance to me. It was my life after meeting Jasper. I know it sounds silly, but he altered me in ways I can't describe. My thoughts were directed onto him, as were my concerns.

I never had anything major occur in my life. It's always the next project in school, or some sort of dance competition. But now, everything is so different. It wasn't me, me, and more me. It was a combination of worry and concern. Jasper was so different from everybody else I have met.

And that's why when Jasper looked at me with pleading eyes at the hospital, I could not stay. I don't think I could refuse him when he looked at me so forlornly. Of course, he was just handing back my karma. I _did _do the same to him earlier tonight.

Part of me wanted to be mad at him for forcing me away, but I knew that he was just thinking of me when he did so. I had put him in that situation, and yet he still did everything in his power to make sure I was okay. He did the right thing, even if I didn't.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of all the Jasper-oriented thoughts. I had to stop worrying. Jasper was going to be fine. I would probably see him in a day or two. Maybe if I was allowed, I could even go to his house tomorrow morning. I shouldn't be worrying. I needed to stop.

But as with most thoughts, it was hard to get rid of. Everything Jasper was stubborn. At first, I didn't recognize this. Jasper seems willing to go with the flow, but when I started to ask questions, he hardened his barriers.

It may have been because he has been forced to bend his will so many times, or it may not have been because of that. All I knew was that Jasper was so unlike everybody, as was I. In fact, everybody from our group of friends is different in their own way. I guess nonconformity is our common link.

"Alice!" I heard my dad call from the downstairs. Groaning, I had to cut out of my trance and look away from the ever-so-interesting wall. I stood up and stretched my sore muscles. They were tingling from having stayed in the same position for so long.

I walked stiffly down the stairs to meet my father at the bottom. He was watching me but did not speak until I reached him. "I just called the hospital. Jasper's doing fine. He's out of surgery and into recovery." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I felt a wave of relief wash through me. I felt my posture slacken, despite me not even realizing that it had tense. My dad smiled and squeezed my shoulder briefly. "So there were no problems?" I clarified, just to be sure. My dad shook his head.

"Absolutely nothing went wrong." He assured me, ruffling my hair condescendingly. I gave him a mock glare before I turned to stomp up the stairs jokingly.

Just as I was about to put my foot down, I remembered the question I wanted to ask my dad. "Father?" I asked in the sweetest tone I could muster.

He raised his eyebrows. "Aren't we moody today?" He laughed. "What do you want?"

I lightly stepped down so I was at the same level as him. I looked up with wide eyes and a small smile. "I would never ask anything of you, sir. But," I paused dramatically. My dad chuckled in the brief silence. "If you happened to be on the way to the hospital tomorrow, wouldn't it be easy to drop me off so I could visit a certain someone?"

"Are you dating this boy, Alice?" He said, answering my question with his own question. I bit back a groan. Not another boyfriend talk.

"Dad, I'm not dating Jasper. He's sweet and nice, but as of now, he is not my boyfriend." I said abruptly, wishing I was lying. My dad looked like he was going to say something, so I cut him off. "No, I would never do anything like that, I'm only fifteen. Yes, I will be extremely careful. And no, I will not fall so deeply in love that I want to kill myself when he breaks up with me. I hear that story from you every time I mention a boy." I said in a serious tone, answering the questions he had not asked.

My dad sighed. "The youth these days," He muttered, heading off to the kitchen. "Do you want some ice cream?" He called after he was down the hallway. I grinned maniacally. My mom was completely opposed to any dessert, and I usually complied to her wishes, _usually. _

"Is that even a question?" I asked, scampering down the hall to follow my father. He was pulling a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the freezer.

"I thought so." He said, smiling as well.

"How long have you been hiding this? I thought Mom found your secret stash."

"She forgot about my super-secret stash." My dad said with a superior tone in his voice. He looked pleased with himself.

I grabbed two spoons out of the drawer and snatched the carton out of my dad's hands. "Here, let me help you with that." I said not-so-innocently." My dad grumbled, but did not object.

I pulled the lid off and handed a spoon to my dad, immediately scooping on a large serving to myself on the utensil. While my dad was helping himself, I maneuvered onto the counter and watched him fumble around.

I was absently licking the scoop of ice cream when my dad finally set down the carton to start eating himself. "So, do you like Jasper?" My dad asked. When he spoke, I had to stop myself from nearly choking on the dessert in my mouth.

I started coughing to get rid of the ice cream I had inhaled. When I finally was able to speak, I managed to croak out a very heated, "What?"

"Do you want to date this boy?" He said, as if it was all simple. "He seemed nice enough, a little quiet. I wouldn't peg him as your type."

I widened my eyes in disbelief. The ice cream was totally not worth it. "Dad," I began, speaking very softly. "Can we pretend you never said that and forget this all happened?" I said quite seriously.

"What's wrong with me asking that?"

I groaned, this wasn't happening. I heard the car door shut from outside, a perfect excuse. "Hide the goodies!" I exclaimed, throwing the lid on and passing off the dessert like a football.

The door handle wiggled and then opened. My mom walked in with a paper grocery bag resting on her hip. She seemed to pay no attention to us, but when she passed by, she said absentmindedly, "Enjoy your ice cream?"

"What ice cream?" My dad said a little too quickly. I shook my head. He was a failure at mischief.

"Can you put the groceries up, hun?" She asked, speaking to me this time. I nodded quickly and started to sort through the bag. "Something's wrong." My mom said seriously. I stopped to look at her.

"What is?"

"You're not complaining." She said with narrowed eyes. I made a face at her.

"I don't complain that much, I just think your food is a bit eccentric, Mother."

"Now I know something is wrong." She declared, looking between me and my father, who still looked like the kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Boys," My father said at the same time I immediately said, "Nothing!"

My mom shook her head. "Try to steer clear of that subject next time." She said, patting his cheek as she went to open the fridge. "It's a girl thing."

My dad was about to defend himself when my mother interrupted him. "Alice and I are going to head upstairs. Can you handle putting these up?" My dad nodded. I nervously followed my mother to go upstairs. As we were about to head out, my mom added one last thing.

"And the yogurt does not go in the freezer!" She called behind her shoulder. I laughed, but did not comment. My mom turned into her room, me still at her heels. I had a feeling this was going to turn out interestingly.

"Come sit on the bed with me." She said, going over to the dresser to change into her pajamas. I sat in anticipation, hoping this talk wasn't going to be what I thought it was.

Eventually, when I thought my insides were about to burst, my mother sat down next to me. "Alice," She began, pausing to think. This was going to be bad. I tried to avoid this entire talk.

"Mom, I have already had 'the talk' and I can assure you, I wasn't even considering it. Jasper and I aren't like that."

My mom chuckled. "No, that wasn't what I was going to talk about." She said, pausing again. I waited for her to continue this time. "I want to warn you."

"Warn me about what?" I said immediately. "Jasper is really nice."

"I know, hun. I just want you to know that your father and I are worried." She whispered. I was utterly confused.

"Mom, I'm not following you."

"Just know that you are only fifteen. Your father and I met when we were in our late twenties. You've been acting differently lately, and I don't want you get hurt by some boy."

"What are you trying to say, Mom?" I said, still trying to grasp at what she was getting at. Jasper was really polite when he was talking to them, I don't know why she was getting into this.

My mom was about to say something, but she closed her mouth before she spoke. She tried a different approach. "Have you told him you love him?" She asked softly.

I blushed, thinking about that lunch in the unused classroom. We hadn't talked about those events, and I didn't even know if he meant what he said. I did.

My mom looked to me with pity in her eyes. My lack of an answer was spoken loud and clear. "Don't you think you are taking this a bit fast?"

I shook my head. "What are you talking about? He hasn't even asked me out yet."

"Exactly." She said, still looking sympathetic.

"Are you trying to say he doesn't like me, Mom? Because this is just ridiculous, you don't even know him." I shouted, standing up. I knew I wasn't thinking through this rationally, but I didn't care.

"Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you!" I stomped away, not listening to her objections. I passed my confused dad and threw the door shut, immediately locking it.

I fell onto the bed and started to cry. I was being immature, and I knew it. I didn't care. I heard my dad and mom knocking on the door, but I paid no attention to either of them. I crawled under the covers and ignored the sound.

What if what my mom said was true? What if he thought I was terrible? I could have misread everything. He could think I'm obnoxious and controlling, not to mention the fact he could hate me for what I did to him tonight.

He could think all that and just be too nervous to tell me. He could be gritting his teeth every time I walk into the room. How am I supposed to know what he's thinking? I can't read minds!

I scrubbed the tears off of my cheeks and grasped my knees. Maybe my mom was right. Jasper tried to get rid of me at the hospital. Maybe he wasn't trying to protect me. Maybe he just found an excuse to get me to leave.

Maybe he only agreed to meet with my parents because I gave him food. Maybe he doesn't even like me. When I told him I loved him, he could have just said the same back because he didn't know what to say.

The more I thought about it, the more I truly found myself becoming confident that all of the signs pointed in one direction. He hated me, he thought I was despicable.

I feel asleep with thoughts rushing through my head. One thing stood out among the rest. I couldn't see him again. If he didn't like me, I wouldn't annoy him. He's dealt with me for too long.

When I woke up the next morning, my previous resolve had crumbled a little. Without my emotions to obstruct my judgment, I could see clearly that Jasper had not indicated his true view one way or the other.

He said he loved me, but could he just be saying that? It didn't sound definitive, but neither did mine. He could just be waiting to break it easy. He may not care for me at all.

Of course, he might think about me as much as I did him. I groaned in exasperation. How was I supposed to interpret him so easily? Somehow, I was going to find a way to figure it out, but not now.

I felt terrible, like hadn't slept in weeks. My head was pounding and getting up was the last thing I wanted to do. Alas, it was unavoidable. I would have to get vertical soon, no matter what.

School started in less than twenty minutes, and I already was going to be borderline late, making Bella late as well. I pulled on an outfit quickly before finishing getting ready.

I tried not to think off Jasper or our relationship as I meandered through the room as quickly as my pounding head would allow. It was difficult, but I managed.

It turns out, I was only about a minute later than usual. Bella's truck was outside when I dodged down the stairs and out the door. Only when I hopped into the car did I feel completely successful when it came to avoiding my parents. I did not feel like holding a conversation with them today. I did not feel like thinking today at all.

Bella looked tired when I got into the car and I was afraid I would annoy her if I spoke too much. She had slight purple marks under her eyes as if she had rubbed make-up there, but I knew that was highly unlikely. Anyway, Bella's skin was so pale any discoloration would stand out remarkably. To me, she just looked plain tired. I said my greetings, but otherwise remained silent.

"What happened, Alice?" Bella asked about a minute into the ride. I smiled briefly in her direction. She was always trying to solve other's problems. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her. Hopefully it was not nearly as unpleasant as my situation.

"I could ask you the same thing." I huffed when she did not ask another question. My response was both an indicator that I really did not want to speak, and hopefully hinted that I was curious as to her night last night. Bella glanced over to me when we were waiting at a stop sign.

"How did your project work out with Jasper?" She asked, avoiding the subject of her previous whereabouts as well as referring to him meeting my parents. It seemed longer ago than yesterday. Between the conversations, the crying, and the fitful night of sleep, it seemed like eons ago.

Of course she guessed the right thing. I would have to explain sometime, and now seemed like the best option. I sighed and explained yesterday's situation up until meeting his dad. However, I did not delve into my mother's suggestions. I did not even want to think about them.

"Did he seem odd?" Bella asked softly. I tilted my head, asking to whom she was referring even if I had a pretty good idea. "His dad, I mean." She clarified. I thought about it for a second before replying.

"He didn't seem like he wanted to go around and hit people if that's what you mean. He was a little off though." I said thoughtfully.

"How so?"

"It's hard to explain. It was almost as if he was overly confident?" I said, raising my voice into a question. Bella nodded, but clearly she couldn't understand the man that called himself Jasper's father, even I couldn't.

"So was that what was bothering you? Meeting Jasper's dad?" Bella continued to inquire I sighed, might as well tell her the truth.

"I don't think Jasper likes me." I said in a soft, wistful voice. Bella jerked in her seat, causing the car to swerve ever-so-slightly on the road.

"What?" She demanded, leaving no trace of the soft Bella speaking just moments before. "What made you think that?"

I sighed once again and looked out the window at the passing trees. It was easy not to like me, especially knowing what he does about me. I'm a freak.

"Alice…" Bella growled interrupting my thought process. "Alice!" She said loudly when I didn't turn to look at her. She kept glancing from me to the road. "Don't think like that. Obviously, you haven't seen him before he met you, but let me tell you. He has changed more that you know. Are you listening to me, Alice?"

I turned my head to her again. Bella was almost angry when she spoke and I couldn't understand it. I was ashamed for even mentioning it.

Bella sighed. She looked much calmer than she had just a moment again. She opened her mouth to try again. "He was really quiet just a few weeks ago. He never spoke unless you asked him something and he wouldn't ever talk about himself. Did you know that yesterday he was laughing with Edward during class? He even got reprimanded by the teacher. Please, please don't think that he doesn't like you." Bella paused for a moment. "What gave you that idea?"

I was hesitant to speak. It was hard to believe what Bella had just said. I tried to think back to the boy I met on my first day of school here. To me, he didn't seem all that different. Jasper was quiet, nervous, and shy. How could that be an improvement? I looked over to Bella, who seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"My mom was talking to me." I said glumly. Bella looked confused at this. "She just implied that I was too young to know what I wanted. That I couldn't understand the concept of loving somebody that's not in the family. She acted like she knew everything and before she could even lecture me, I wouldn't hear it. I stomped out of the room was left to my own devices." My voice got faster as I spoke and by the time I was finished I was on the edge of tears.

"You thought too hard?" Bella asked sympathetically. I nodded with tears running down my cheeks. "Love isn't like that. You can't think. It doesn't make sense. I suppose I'm not the best person to be giving you advice. I'm not married or anything, but I can't stop and wonder if I'm loved as much as I love him. You just have to assume it, you know?"

I was trying to comprehend what Bella was saying. She had this faraway look in her eyes when she spoke and I knew exactly who she was thinking about. Bella and Edward were like a fairytale. A match made up perfectly. Jasper and I weren't even officially dating. I didn't know if he even wanted to date me.

"Of course Edward loves you." I laughed, thinking of that uncertainty rather than trying to make sense of her speech. Bella threw me a look.

"Well, its obvious that Jasper cares for you more than any of his other friends, and we've known him for years." She said in comeback.

I looked thoughtfully out the window and it was then that I realized we were in the school parking lot. My eyes widened as I looked to the clock. We were late.

"Bella! We have to go!" I yelled, half surprising myself. She looked at the clock too, but appeared much calmer than I did.

"We were already late when I parked. A few minutes won't kill us." She laughed. This was not the Bella I knew.

"Why are you so irresponsible all of a sudden, Bella? That's not in your job description."

"What job? Since when do I get paid?" She joked around. I grabbed my backpack and got out of the truck quickly. We would have to hurry if we didn't want to be absent. We were tardy as it is.

However, I did not run when Bella came around the truck. She still had a brace on her foot, and for that I was sorry. We walked up to the school fairly slowly.

When I got to class, I ignored the yelling emanating from the teacher. In fact, I even forgot all about my worries from this morning. The only thing I could focus on was the fact that the chair next to me was empty, its typical inhabitant gone.

Class seemed to drag on forever. For sure it was longer than the customary amount. I was about ready to scream from anxiety when the teacher let us out as the bell rang. My mood was high pitched for the next few periods. Despite talking to Bella this morning, I practically ignored her in all of my classes.

I didn't know why I was reacting so violently to Jasper's absence. It was obvious beforehand that he would not be in class today. He might not even be in class tomorrow for all I know. I was just anxious, and I didn't know why.

In Spanish, I think Edward could pick up on my mood. As if he was reading my mind, he asked what had happened with Jasper the moment we had free time. I looked surprised at this, but it _was _Edward we were talking about. He knew all about what people were thinking.

But still, when Edward spoke I narrowed my eyes and instead of answering, I asked my own question. "How do you know that something is wrong with Jasper?" Edward gave me a pointed look. "He came over for dinner last night." I sighed.

"And that's a bad thing? Why are you so nervous and why isn't he at school today?"

"One question at a time," I said, exhausted. It wasn't even lunch period yet and I couldn't wait for this day to be over. I put my head in my hands. "Jasper's arm is broken."

Although he clearly did not understand, that was my answer to all three of Edward's questions. He waited for me to continue. "My dad recognized that his arm was broken and brought him to the hospital."

Edward looked surprised at this. Clearly, this was not what he was expecting. "And did his parents meet him there?" He asked sharply. I looked up quickly at this. Exactly how much did he suspect?

"Only his dad." I answered warily. I did not want to defend the monster, even if Jasper had once. However, I promised Jasper that I would not tell anybody his secret and that was a promise I wanted to remain loyal to.

Edward clearly did not think I knew exactly what he suspected. Furthermore, he had no idea that I had proof of his suspicions. He looked hesitant when he responded, absently tapping his fingers on the desk. I did not speak.

"And how did his dad react?" Edward asked slowly, still in thought.

I wanted to play a good role. Instead of answering in truth, I pulled out a confused look. "What?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Edward look flustered. He smiled softly before explaining himself. "I don't know Jasper's dad. Was he panicky or calm? I was just wondering."

"And why would you wonder that?" I asked in mock innocence.

"I was just… wondering?" Edward repeated. Edward was not one to lose his cool in these types of situations, but he was still somewhat nervous when he spoke.

I wanted to laugh at his attempt to explain the obvious reason he wanted to ask without telling the truth. I felt bad for Edward though. He really was a thoughtful guy.

He was nice enough and never got angry or volatile. He always seemed collected with some clever thought on the tip of his tongue. Usually he did, but today he was out of character. I suppose worrying about a friend will do that to you.

I wanted to soothe Edward's worries, but how was I supposed to do that when I was freaking out myself? I was spared from having to answer when the Spanish teacher walked past us. "Te gustaria tocar la guitarra en la clase de ciencias?" I asked quickly, glancing down at the book to see if that was even remotely what we were supposed to be talking about.

Edward chuckled at my attempt to speak the language. "That makes no sense."

"Yeah it does," I defended myself. "I was asking if you would like to play the guitar in Science. That's a legitimate question."

"Sure it is." Edward placated me. I narrowed my eyes and stuck out my tongue. "Real mature."

I was about ready to come up with a comeback when the teacher passed by again. "Alicia!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. "Estas cansada?" I bit my lip, trying to remember what _cansada _meant.

I snuck Edward a glance. He rested his head on his hands as though he was tired. Duh! "No." I said simply, not really wanting to come up with a long response. It wasn't the truth, but the teacher really didn't care if I was tired or not.

The teacher looked satisfied. She turned to Edward to ask him a question. I made a face behind her back. Edward masked his laugh with a rather hacking cough. "Eduardo, estas enfermo?" She asked sympathetically. It was my turn to laugh. The cough didn't sound _that_ realistic.

"Si, Senora." Edward nodded respectfully.

"Que triste!" She exclaimed walking off. I broke into laughter the second she was far away.

"Pobre Eduardo." I laughed. Edward faked a cough trying successfully to make me laugh all the harder.

Edward was a great person to be around. I suppose had I never met Bella, I would never have been partners with him, but because we have, it is easy to be friends.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. I swung my backpack onto my shoulders and grabbed the stray folder off of the desk. However, I shouldn't have rushed because Edward was slowly organizing his materials into his own bag. I sighed, but I was still determined to walk to lunch with Edward. On a typical day, I would walk to my locker and wait for Jasper, but he was not here today.

My mood, which had been lightening slowly, dropped heavily. Jasper wasn't here today. I sounded pathetic, but what if something happened? Would Jasper's dad blame everything on him? Would he get in trouble because of me?

My body shuddered involuntarily at that. No matter how many times my thoughts could switch to that subject on their own accord, I could not help the spasm of shock, blame, and fear that accompanied it.

It was all my fault. I had told Jasper that I would help him. Some help I was. For all I knew, Jasper could be at home suffering because of me while I sat in Spanish joking. I was terrible.

"Off in your own world?" Edward asked. There was no trace of anything but sorrow in his voice. It was as if he knew what I was thinking about.

"Exactly." I nodded solemnly. We marched together toward the lunch room. When we arrived, everybody was already at our table. Edward slid into the seat next to Bella and I sat down next to him, an empty spot to my left. Jasper's spot.

"Alice, tell Bella that there are other things to wear besides jeans." Rosalie demanded when I was seated with a solitary bag in front of me. I hadn't brought two today. I knew he wasn't going to be here, but I still wished he was.

I looked up at Rosalie, clearly she was in a good mood. In fact, so was everybody else. Edward knew my mood, and just moments ago had a similar one, but he wore a smile on his face. I put one on too. It felt wrong.

"I think jeans can be stylish, if you wear the right kind." I didn't really want to get into an argument, as playful as it was. I opted to find a middle ground and take a bite of my sandwich.

"You can't be serious." Rosalie said. I could sense the worry in her voice, but I did not look up. "What happened?" She said abruptly.

I did not want to go through this again. Instead of answering, I stood up quickly. "Actually, I'm not that hungry." I announced. As I walked away before they could even respond, I dumped my bag of food into the garbage.

I could hear the brief "I'll go talk to her" coming from somebody in our group, but I only walked faster at that. I walked all the way to Jasper's locker before I realized where I was going. Sliding down the wall, I positioned myself at the bottom of it. I felt like crying for the billionth time today. I missed him so much.

Before I could delve further into my own misery, I heard a set of footsteps coming toward me. I knew it was not Bella's uneven gate, nor was it Rosalie; the person heading to me was not wearing high heels. That left Emmett or Edward and I could guess which one.

"Hey," I heard Edward's soft voice ring out. I didn't look up. I didn't want to speak to anyone save the one person not here. Edward was not Jasper. "Why are you so down? It's just a broken arm."

"It's not just a broken arm, Edward." I sighed after a prolonged period of silence. I did not elaborate.

"Was he hurt somewhere else?" Edward asked, clearly confused.

"No,"

"Then what, Alice?"

I didn't have an answer. I didn't know anything. I think Edward sensed this because he took a step forward and held out his hand.

"What are you doing?" I said, even if the answer didn't matter to me. I grasped his hand as he pulled him up.

"I don't feel like going to class today. In fact, I don't think I am. What about you?"

"What?" I asked immediately. This was not Edward. "Are you delirious?"

"Maybe, but I think we could use a break, no?"

I debated, weighing the pros and cons, but I knew already what I was going to do. As I followed Edward outside to the parking lot, I tried not to think. Casually, I looked over to my friend. "Why are you doing this?"

"I think it's in the best interest of all our sanity."

And for the first time that day, I felt a rather calming sense rather than the building fear inside of me. Edward had clearly read my mind and knew exactly what was in my best interest.

Jasper was not there the next day at school. I tried to brush this off. He was still recovering from the hospital. He had to be okay. It wasn't like he was hurt or anything. He couldn't be. I talked to Edward and Bella all day and my nerves could have been considered than they were the day before. It was probably because Edward had taken me out for ice cream yesterday. Nobody even mentioned it to me. Although Jasper was not there, I felt like I was walking on clouds.

Jasper was not at school the next day either. I was a little worried, but then again: how fast do you recover from breaking your arm? I was a little jumpy and every time somebody spoke to me, I tried to appear calm and collected. I don't know how that worked out. My mom asked why the school had called and said I wasn't there half of yesterday. I told her I felt sick and went to Edward's house.

Jasper wasn't there again. I couldn't pay attention in class, I could sit still. I couldn't do much of anything. Bella kept throwing me pity glances, as did every body else at our table. When I made it through the day and got home, my mom stopped me again. She said she had talked to Esme that day and that I hadn't gone to their house. Before I could come up with an excuse, she asked if I had started dating Edward.

Jasper wasn't there. The day was terrible and I couldn't even meet somebody else's gaze. Bella was starting to worry about my health; I was worried about Jasper's. Thoughts raced too fast for me to pick up on them and I couldn't formulate a sentence. I stopped eating, I couldn't think about it when I was wondering whether Jasper's parents fed him. My mom kept pestering me about Edward until I shouted into her face that I never had any intention on dating anybody other than Jasper.

Sunday. I made my decision on Sunday that enough was enough. I grabbed my phone and dialed Bella's number. I was going to Jasper's house whether it was safe or not.

Bella had pulled through, like she always does. I had only known the girl for a short while, but it was obvious that her personality was reliable. She had pulled up in her lumbering red truck ten minutes after I placed the call.

On the way to Jasper's, I felt an odd sense of relief. You would think that I would be nervous as I get nearer to a man that clearly has no sense of restraint, but the closer I got to Jasper the better I felt.

It was almost as if I could feel Jasper's calming presence miles away. I certainly felt my neck muscles relaxing to a point where my head was leaning against the window in a half daze. Bella cast me a confused look. "Get enough sleep last night?" It was the first words spoken since I called her on the phone and they took me by surprise.

"I haven't slept well all week. I just want to see him."

Bella had no response for this, which struck me as odd. I looked over to her, but she had her eyes on the road. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Alice. Stop worrying so much." She chuckled, obviously having heard the slight note of panic seeping into my voice.

"Do you think he's okay?"

"Alice," Bella sighed. I looked over to her warily. "You know he will be okay. Think about it, don't you have visions about him a lot?" I nodded, thinking of the minor details I usually collect at night and sometimes during the day. I couldn't begin to understand them. "Well have you seen anything along those lines?"

I shook my head. "How am I supposed to understand a flashlight, a toothbrush, or the answers to Monday's quiz in relation to Jasper's disappearance?" Her question had hit a sore spot. I had been unable to see anything important since before the hospital visit. I was blind to whatever was happening with Jasper, and that fact bothered me.

Bella looked equally frustrated, but presumably not with me. She scrunched eyebrows and looked thoughtful. I growled at myself and life audibly. I was getting impatient.

It's funny how you can go an entire week waiting, but then cave at the last minute. I thought that I could restrain myself from visiting Jasper. I was still unsure exactly where we stood and I didn't want to bother him too much. But, when I woke up this morning I knew that today was going to the day and waiting would only put off the inevitable, something I should have known long ago.

Jasper's house was getting closer, and I think Bella could pick up on my jittery mood. She gave me a look when we turned onto his street. I had straightened all the way up in my seat and was searching out the front window of her truck, just in case Jasper happened to be in the middle of the street.

I almost laughed at myself. I seemed so desperate. However, _almost _was the key word in that sentence. I was too wired up to laugh in such a cheerful way. I couldn't do something like that if Jasper was all alone, possibly even hurt.

"Impatient?" Bella asked, giving me a sympathetic look.

"I can't believe it's been this long. I haven't seen him in forever." I half moaned, trying to verbalize the inner struggle going on.

The car ride was dragging on. I know it was longer than the four minutes the clock indicated. Surely such a short period of time could not stretch to that length, but it seemingly had. Bella pulled up into the driveway and gave me a look. "So what's the plan?" She asked slowly.

In actuality, I hadn't given much thought to the way things were going to go down. To me, the only important fact was that I was going to see Jasper, that was all that matter. If I had thought about it more, I would have realized that a strategy would be best for today. There were too many possibilities. Would Bella go in with me? Would I tell them I had his homework like I did last time? Is there any peaceful way of going about this?

Bella laughed causing me to give her a stare of bewilderment. "What?" I demanded, clearly confused.

"The one who can see the future doesn't plan for it." She stated, chuckling while she did so. I didn't find this funny, not in a time like this.

"I didn't see anything related to Jasper. I already told you this." I snapped. Bella stopped laughing.

"Sorry, Alice. Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Uh-huh. Because that's going to help Jasper so much. Everything is going great if we pretend it is. That's great, Bella, really great. And also, if we pretend there are not dying children out in Africa or something and poverty and global warming and I don't know, Bella. But don't worry, if we pretend it doesn't exist, it doesn't." Bella looked like she was about to say something, but I interrupted her. "And furthermore, if Jasper isn't in school when he gets hurt, it's not like it's your problem. You don't have to _see _him hurting or anything. You can just keep living your day to day life and everything is going great. Right, Bella?"

"Alice…" She said softly, but I was too far in to stop. The words poured out of my mouth without a moment's thought.

"That's exactly what I did, and do you know where that landed me? Or more importantly, where it landed Jasper? I knew all along what was going on with him. I suspected something was wrong the day I met him, and did I do anything, Bella? Did I help him out? Absolutely not. I sat there on my butt and watched it happen. I pretended everything was great. Two weeks, Bella, two weeks. I knew from the very start, and I didn't do anything. What was I supposed to do? I don't even know, but I should have acted. That's what I should have done. I didn't though. Nope, Alice is too busy with her own day to day life to help out a guy out. It's not like-"

Bella slapped my hand. I jerked out of my self prosecution speech, looking at her in wonderment. "Feeling better?" She said calmly, assessing my mood.

I nodded my head slowly. My thoughts were just a bit more organized, and this time definitely internal. I felt a brief surge of embarrassment at the situation. I hadn't meant to go crazy like that.

"Good." Bella said, nodding to herself. "Because we are here."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Ready?" I asked Bella slowly. She nodded as if this was an everyday situation. "I have my cell phone. I'll call if anything is wrong, that is, after I call 911." I tried to joke, doing the exact thing I had yelled at Bella for doing. She gave me a weak smile.

"I don't know if this is right. Maybe I should come in with you, Alice. It doesn't seem right."

"Look," I said calmly, even if I felt only marginally better than I had a few moments ago when I was rambling. "Mr. Whitlock isn't going to hurt me. That would be against the law."

"And that stops him from hurting Jasper?" She pointed out.

"I don't love the man. I would tell someone in a moment's notice. Jasper might have conflictions, but I don't."

Bella sighed. We had gone over this while sitting out in the driveway, but she still seemed like she was unsure of herself. She didn't want me to go in alone.

"I'm going to be fine. I'll be out soon-ish" I reassured. I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket, then gave a smile to Bella before I got out of the truck.

"Be careful, Alice. I'm worried about you."

"I can see the future, Bella. I'll be fine." Before she could respond, I shut the door and began to walk up the driveway. I knew as well as Bella that the future was unclear, as much to me as to any other person. I tried not to seem nervous. When I got up to the door, I turned and gave Bella a wave.

She agreed that she was going to stay out in the car, but still wait in the driveway. That was fine with me. I didn't want her to go inside, this time I had a little more knowledge on Jasper's parents.

I knocked on the door. It was only a moment before the same girl that answered last time greeted me again. She had also been the girl on the phone: Amanda.

"Alice!" She exclaimed, giving me a hug. I patted her back awkwardly, wondering about her excitement. "What are you here for?" Amanda asked, stepping back.

"I was worried about Jasper." I said honestly. Amana's face fell at this. She looked worried and thoughtful.

"Now's not the best time." She said slowly.

"I know he broke his arm and everything, but it has been a week. I was getting really worried; he hasn't shown up for school. I mean, unless something else is wrong with him…" I trailed off. The girl clearly got my point, but did not know that I knew anything.

"Here, why don't you come in?" She said, stepping back so I could enter.

"Thank you. Are your parents home?"

"Yeah, my mom and dad are around here somewhere. Why don't you stay here while I go find them? I don't think they want Jasper to have any visitors, but why don't you talk to them?" The girl seemed passive, calm, and collected. For being young, she seemed used to dealing with this kind of stuff.

As she turned around to go up the stairs, two boys came down. They looked identical, even the same expression on their faces. They had that same shade of red-gold hair as their sister and it was even the same wavy type. I couldn't help but compare their looks to Jasper as well, but they didn't look much like him. They appeared more like their sister. "Who's this?" The boy to the left said quickly, glancing at me, but clearly talking to Amanda.

"Jasper's friend. She said she was worried about him. I thought she ought to talk to Dad." Amanda said quickly. Both boys gave her a significant look before staring openly at me.

"Why don't you go get Dad? We'll wait with her." One of them said. Amanda looked behind her back before heading upstairs.

"So what's your name?" The other boy said, he was a lot taller than me, but I knew Jasper was the oldest so the twins had to be younger than me.

"I'm Alice. You?" When I spoke, I could clearly notice what I was lacking in the room. In most places with Jasper, I forget all about his accent, his subtle southern drawl. But here, I was the only one without it. The thought that maybe Jasper always felt that way flashed through my mind before one of the boys spoke.

"I'm Austin. This is Chase." The boy who spoke was wearing navy blue and I made a mental note not to forget that. Chase was the one in a black shirt.

"So what grade are you in?" I asked nervously, not knowing what to say. I knew I had to say something though, clearly I didn't want to seem too weird.

"We're both in 8th grade." Austin said. He wasn't one to sound welcoming. If I hadn't known otherwise, I would have assumed he was the one with the authority that came with age, and not vice versa. "You in Jasper's grade?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm a sophomore."

"You're pretty short to be Jasper's age. Unless he is just freakishly tall."

"You're tall too. It would only make sense that he was as well." I said softly. Both boys looked up, but it was Chase that spoke this time.

"We're not much like Jasper." He said, almost sounding offended.

There was a long silence while we waited for Amanda to get Jasper's father. I was letting my nerves get the best of me as we waited. I didn't want to talk to any of them, but I knew I had to. I needed to speak to Jasper.

After a pregnant pause, I heard footsteps coming down the stair. I straightened in my spot, hoping to look dignified. I saw Jasper's father come down, but he didn't stop until he was right in front of me. "Hello, Ms. Alice. Nice to see you again." He extended his hand for me to shake, which I did so reluctantly. I felt my body shudder as soon as I made contact and I could only hope that Mr. Whitlock did not feel the same. "Boys, why don't you leave us to talk? Go up to your room or something." He said in a commanding, but eerily pleasant voice.

The twins followed their father's command and left me and Mr. Whitlock alone in the room. I tried to look confident, even if I was anything but. "So what can I do for you?" He asked slowly.

"I want to see Jasper." I said without elaboration.

"I'm afraid he isn't feelin' too well. He'll probably be at school soon though, why don't you wait 'til then?" He was using that same voice at me, but I was not his child and instead of complying I looked the man right in the eyes.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Mr. Whitlock, I'd like to see Jasper today. I won't stay long, but I was wondering what would have caused him to stay out of school so long." I tried to use the same voice on him, but I don't think it was working.

"He's been pretty sick this last week, and he's sleeping now. You wouldn't want to wake him up."

"Mr. Whitlock, please." I begged, not knowing what else to say. "I have been worried about him all week and I would just like to see if he is okay."

"Why would he be anything less than okay?"

"I wasn't insinuating anything." I said quickly, defending myself.

"Look, Missy. I'd rather my son stay asleep and a visit from you would do him no good. If you want him to get better, wait until he gets back to school."

I didn't like the way he was talking. He was too proud. I couldn't understand him, but I definitely did not like it.

"Mr. Whitlock," I started to say, trying to reason with him, but he cut me off.

"It would do you best to leave now."

I nodded, resigned. I felt like crying, but I didn't know what to do, what to say. Instead of arguing, like I knew I should have, I dragged myself to the door. "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Whitlock." I said snidely, something I rarely ever did. "Bye, Amanda." I said lightly to the girl who was halfway down the stairs.

Before I busted into tears, I ripped the door open with a crude smile and marched across the poach, inwardly fuming. I was about to turn to Bella's truck when I heard my name whispered.

I whipped around, trying to see who was there. I didn't see anybody. None of the Whitlocks had followed me outside. "Who's there?" I demanded, not feeling like being trifled with.

"Alice?" I heard that same voice whisper again. It was coming from the side of the house. I gave a quick glance to make sure nobody was looking out the window before I headed to the side of the house.

Sure enough, when I did so, I was greeted with the sight of Jasper's younger brother, Joshua. "What do you want?" I asked softly, wondering what he was doing.

"Follow me." He whispered, gesturing with his small hand as he turned around and headed to the back yard.

"You want me to climb _what?_" I demanded in a shrill voice despite the fact that the boy I was talking to was less than a third of my age.

He giggled at me, and I mock glared in his direction, which caused him to laugh louder. I smiled at his reaction. Clearly I was quite a bit calmer with the idea I was seeing Jasper back on track.

However, Josh suddenly stopped laughing. When I knelt down to ask what was wrong, he put a finger to his lips. "Shh…" He said rather loudly. "Jasper said not to talk really loud."

My heart jumped at this. "So Jasper is okay?"

"He isn't fairing too well." The boy said severely, but I had a feeling that those were not his original words. He was four, and they tended to repeat a bit.

"Who said that?" I said quietly, trying not to draw attention to myself, but still delaying the fact that there was a rather scary looking tree I had to climb.

"Ammy says it a lot when I ask her if Jasper is okay." Josh said with large innocent eyes. "She also says he's gonna be fine though."

I thought of Jasper's younger sister, Amanda, and realized that was most likely to whom the boy was referring. I went through a mental list of all the things I could ask Josh, but quickly decided that if I was to see Jasper in a minute, I would just do so then.

"How can you get up there?" I asked in disbelief as I turned my attention back to the second story window that supposedly was Jasper's. "It's kind of high up."

"Don't worry, Alice. You climb." He said as if it was all too simple. I looked at the tree next to the window, which was admittedly tall enough. But unless you had some serious gear, it wasn't possible to scale. "Come on!" He sighed, once again gesturing for me to follow. This time he walked to the other side of the tree.

I followed behind him curiously. Although I was reluctant to have a four year old as my guide, it was apparent that without him I was not going to make it inside, not with Mr. Whitlock practically guarding the door.

When I turned to face the side of the tree Josh was on, I was surprised to be greeted with the sight of wooden blocks nailed to the tree. Josh was already moving to climb it. I reached forward and grabbed his small shoulder. "Who put these here?" I asked, unsure that they were stable.

"I don't know." Josh said, looking over to me. He had already grabbed the block and was moving up at ease. My eyes widened as I reached out a hand to stop him. "No, Alice." He said, looking frustrated with me.

I didn't know what to do. The boy was obviously fairly comfortable doing this, and it was clearly my only way to see Jasper, but the plan did not seem all to smart. As I was anxiously deciding what to do, I noticed Joshua half-way up the tree. Some parent I will be. "Hurry up." The boy stage whispered to me.

Begrudgingly I knew I had to follow him. I grasped one of the blocks and hefted myself onto on of the lower ones. Not thinking about the heights, I despairingly grabbed the next one up. The only thing that kept me climbing was the idea that Jasper was most likely at the top waiting for me.

My hand went to grab the next block, but grasped at nothing. I looked up in fear that it had fallen off, but I was to the last one. I looked around, surprised that I had missed Josh get off the tree. How had he done it?

I didn't have to wait long. Josh was peering over the window when I turned to look at it. If it was close enough for him to get in, surely I could make it to. It was a short distance and I managed to maneuver myself over fairly easily. Being a dancer had its perks, even if I had quit recently.

"Fun?" Josh asked. I nodded my head slowly, trying not to faint from the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The little boy looked pleased with himself though and smiled at me. I nodded, but to what question I was answering, I hadn't the faintest clue.

"She doesn't look too good, does she, Josh?" I heard a voice ask. It was a voice that I had become so familiar with despite not hearing it speak too much. It was the voice that calmed me down with its soothing tone and soft words. It was Jasper's voice, and when I looked up, I found myself staring into Jasper's eyes.

"Hi," I whispered softly, staring into those eyes without any regard for their surroundings. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, and I certainly couldn't manage anything more clever than the greeting I had given him.

"Yeah, she doesn't look good." Josh repeated, turning to look at me before turning back to Jasper. "What do you do?"

"Let have her sit on the bed." Jasper said with his same, alluring voice. I wanted him to keep talking, that way I would be safely cocooned in a world where nothing went wrong and I certainly had nothing to worry about.

"Yeah, have her sit on the bed." Josh nodded in agreement. I vaguely had the idea that they were talking about me, that I was being pulled over to sit down by soft hands. I blinked my eyes, but other than that astounding move, I couldn't do much of anything.

"Hey, Josh?" Jasper was asking. "Do you want to go talk to Amanda? I have something to tell Alice, but nobody can know she's here, got it?"

"Okay!" The boy exclaimed before walking out of the room quickly, shutting the door behind him. My mind was still reverted to the point where very little made sense other than the fact that I was right here with Jasper.

"You're shaking." Jasper said softly. This seemed to pull me out of my relapse to look at the boy who had caused me so much trouble these past few weeks.

"You're hurt." I responded, taking in his appearance. He looked like the same Jasper I knew, but different at the same time. He had stitches on his check, but other than that a large bruise covered one eye. I reached my hand up softly to touch below the swelling careful not to cause pain.

Jasper let out a small, rushed breath. I brought my hand back, thinking I had hurt him. "No," He frowned. "Your hands were cold."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, embarrassed that I had done something so rash. "I didn't, I hadn't-" I stuttered around, thinking of a way to vocalize my apology.

"It feels nice." Jasper said, grabbing my hand with his own. I leaned closer to him, inhaling his soft scent, the one that I had become decidedly Jasper's.

Jasper wrapped his arm around me. His cast rubbed against my shoulder, but I didn't mind. I tightened the hug. At that moment, everything seemed okay. I forgot all about Jasper's dad, his family, his past. I forgot about all of my insignificant troubles about whether or not I was loved and just relaxed for a moment. Everything just seemed right. "I'm sorry." I whispered again.

"Why?" Jasper asked pulling me away from him. I looked into his eyes and lost my train of thought.

"I don't know." I said in a half-daze.

Jasper gave me a wry look. "You don't have to be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong."

I sighed, not feeling the need to speak. It was only when Jasper shifted slightly did I move away. "Sorry." I said again.

Jasper frowned. "What are you sorry about?" He asked confused.

"I thought I had…" I started, but I didn't want to say that. "If I had, and maybe we were…" I trailed off again. Jasper continued to watch me closely. When I didn't continue, he raised his eyebrows. "How were you hurt?" I asked, changing the subject.

Jasper wasn't easily fooled, but he took my direction and hesitantly answered my question. "The nurse said I fell out of my bed." He said, bringing his hand up to his check, touching the stitches.

"You don't think," My mind was having trouble wrapping itself around any thought. Jasper shrugged, answering my question. He knew I was referring to his father. "And you got a black eye from that?" I asked in disbelief.

"That was after." Jasper admitted reluctantly. I stood up of the bed so I could pace out my thoughts. My mind was now overwhelmed. I was finally with Jasper, and everything had been put back into order, but life seemed to get back together and hit me with the speed of a racing car.

"Why weren't you at school?" I asked, now traveling the perimeter of the small room over and over. Jasper was content watching me.

"Do you really want to talk about this?" Jasper sighed. I looked up and thought about it for a second. Did I really want to talk about it? Did I want to have to deal with problems on this spectrum? Not exactly, but I wanted to fix everything, and I was doing the only way I knew how: by obsessing over it.

I didn't have a direct answer for his questions, but when I opened my mouth to explain everything, my cell phone rang. I quickly grabbed it, hoping nobody from downstairs heard the obnoxious ring tone. "Hello?" I whispered.

"Alice? Where are you? You're okay, right?" Bella demanded on the other side. I sighed, forgetting that I hadn't warned her of what was going on.

"I'm fine. I'm with Jasper."

"I'm sorry to say this, Alice, but I kind of need to get home and so do you. It's getting later." I was surprised by this. I glanced at the clock and was amazed to see it was five o'clock.

"I'll be down in a minute." I responded, trying not to sound too sad about it all. I don't think I managed to do so.

"Be careful, Alice." Bella warned once again. When I heard her hang up, I did the same and looked to Jasper.

"No problem." He said, having heard my conversation. "My father's going to call dinner soon anyways." He didn't sound overjoyed at the prospect, and I didn't like hearing about it too much either.

"You're going to come to school soon, right?" I asked, not wanting to think about another long time without seeing Jasper.

"I'll probably be there as soon as my eye heals." Jasper said thoughtfully. I looked at him, trying to read his thoughts to no avail. "What?" He asked suddenly.

"Nothing." I sighed. "I don't want to leave you."

"Me either." He agreed. He stood up and walked across the room to where I stood. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I could ask you the same question." I looked into his eyes, which were currently assessing me carefully. "Let's make a pact. I'll be okay if you are. Deal?" I said as if it was only that simple.

"I think I can live with that." Jasper smiled. I gave him one last hug before turning my back to peer down through the window. When I finally made my trek back to Bella's truck, which had been moved to blend in, I felt like I had left a part of myself back with Jasper. I felt those same creeping emotions edge into my mind the moment I was away from him.

I knew it was going to be a long night, and an even longer week until Jasper came back to school.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Jasper's Point of View

"Kids," I heard my mother's voice drift up the stairs. "It's time for dinner!"

I groaned, not really wanting to roll over to look at the clock. I didn't want to move. Period. It wasn't that I was in extreme physical pain, but my joints ached and my head pounded. I felt sick, even if I knew I was perfectly healthy at the moment, apart from the new serious of bruises dotting my arms and back.

I tried unsuccessfully to get up, but my body protested. It demanded more sleep with its usual passion. I would much rather lay in bed. However, as with school, attendance at dinner was mandatory.

I looked at the clock eventually. I had four minutes until I was considered officially late. I gingerly pulled myself up into a sitting position. The ground slanted underneath my feet like some poor excuse for an amusement ride. I dreaded having to actually stand, but again, I had no other choice.

_Stand. _I commanded myself. I didn't have the energy to actually do it. It was no use. I looked back to the clock. Three minutes. I knew I had to hurry now. I lifted myself up eventually.

I did make it down in time, but I could tell from the expression on my dad's face that he did not appreciate me cutting it close. I eased into the seat between Amanda and Chase, neither looked at me.

It was silent as I sat down; there is no speaking until dinner is officially started. As my dad lead us in thanking God for the food, I tried to keep my eyes off of everyone else. Instead, they rested on my dinner plate, or lack thereof. I sighed, clearly I didn't do enough today to deserve a dinner. I whispered along the words despite this.

It was silent after the prayer. My dad had to initiate the conversation. He must have enjoyed tormenting me today because he chose me to talk to. "Jasper," He said with a smile. It would have looked pleasant if I didn't already know better. He waited for me to look at him to continue. "You look like you were sleeping."

I had two choices, lie and take my chances or tell the truth and accept punishment. To lie and be found out would be a thousands times worse, but either way it was not going to be fun. "Yes, sir. I was lying in bed."

I could see the smirk emerge on his face, a cruel emotionless sign of pleasure. "Sloth is one of the deadly sins."

My anger flared within me. "Yeah, so is wrath." I mumbled under my breath. Unfortunately for me, I never seem to be lucky. I knew my father heard me. If the enraged expression didn't tell me, his fist slamming down on the table was a good indicator.

Amanda turned to me quickly. "Apologize, now." She whispered as my dad shook in his spot. He was doing everything in his power not to jump across the table. Amanda looked scared, her eyes were pleading.

My own heart was pumping fast. My thoughts couldn't organize into a plan, and there seemed to be no way to avoid this all. I heard myself apologize, but it went unnoticed. My father was beyond hearing.

Chase and Austin were both shell shocked. Their mouths hung open, their eyes permanently widened in surprise. Josh looked scared. He squirmed in his seat and started to cry. I took my leave immediately.

My bedroom was the first option. Forgetting all weariness and pain, I ran up the stairs and into my room. When I heard heavy footsteps following me, I slammed the door and locked it, even if I knew it was pointless. My father had the key in his room.

My heart was racing now. The footsteps stopped in front of my door. Someone was pounding on it, hard. "Jasper!" My dad's voice called out. This time, it wasn't in that enraged snarl I had expected. It was calm again, loud but calm. I knew that that was no indicator on what was going to go on. There was no escape, none at all.

The pounding got heavier. I looked around the room, the door would not hold much longer. The closet, under the bed, there were no good hiding places. I stood helplessly in the middle of the room, unsure of where to move but all too certain that remaining here would be a bad idea. The pounding was shaking the door; soon enough, it was bound to open whether or not it was locked.

A plan struck me in my panic-induced haze. I ran to the window, the one that Alice had left out of just yesterday. I grabbed my backpack and hastily unlocked the latch. Giving the door one last glance, I pushed the window open and hefted myself out.

It was just a matter of getting away before they noticed my absence. I climbed down about a forth of the way before I heard the door slam open. "Jasper!" My dad yelled, surveying the room.

I wouldn't let him get me. Closing my eyes, I said a quick prayer before releasing my grasp on the ladder and feeling myself fall down the remainder of the way. For a moment, I reveled in the air swooping by me. I felt my stomach drop almost like a roller coaster. But that moment passed too quickly for my liking. I opened my eyes right as I was about to land, allowing my instincts to take over.

Looking back and thinking about it, I would soon realize how lucky I was not to have broken any bones or anything along those lines. I really would notice how everything had worked out in my favor, something that rarely happened. I would realize that later, but at that moment, the only thing I would recognize was that it hurt, and I was in pain. Limping off, I made it out of the yard as fast as I could hoping nobody had the sense to look out the window. I wouldn't know. I didn't spare a glance in the other direction.

It was only after a solid ten minutes of running without a thought- of living off the adrenaline pumping through my veins- that I noticed that I was headed to the park. I looked around the childish playground and grimaced. The last time I had been here was not fun. In fact, most visits here I was in severe pain. Now, however, I was just smarting. Nothing was seriously injured and for that I was thankful.

It was somewhat late. Too late for kids to be out here, but not so that the surrounding area was devoid of people. I looked around for a good place to rest, to stay the night, and noticed the tree to the left of me.

When I was situated on a comfortable twist in the branches, I finally allowed my quickened heart to rest. I started to actually think coherently, and that was less than appreciated.

I had been utterly stupid. It was a mistake. The words had just sprouted unknowingly out of my mouth as if I was possessed. Well, according to my dad, that actually might be true.

I tried to push those thoughts away and focus on the pain again. At least with that there were no ifs, ands, or buts. It was simply there and you had to deal with it. I closed my eyes, hoping for the time to pass quickly, hoping to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, I was not granted release from my thoughts for a solid three hours. It was only then that I slipped into the realm of dreams.

It was misting when I woke, but that was hardly something to notice seeing as it was an everyday occurrence. I stretched my arms awkwardly, grimacing when the pain flared up in my wrist. Judging by the amount of light, it was about six or seven in the morning. I knew I would have to head to school today. A week long absence would not go unnoticed and the more I stayed home, the more the school would worry.

I proceeded to climb down the tree as quickly as possible. It ended in a slow procession, but it was all I could manage with my stiff muscles and broken arm. Note to self: don't sleep in trees, they're not the most comfortable of beds.

I wish I had a clock with me. Anything would do. A cell phone would be preferable, but even a watch would work. I would have thought to bring one if I had actually owned one, but my father typically believed that material objects were for the weak.

Sometimes that's why I thought that Amanda distasted the man as much as me. Her slight shopping obsession was not something my father was knowledgeable of. Of course, to refer to my sister in such a way was slightly offending to her, but I was just thinking in simple terms. There was no other reason for her to have the slightest of sympathy for me. Even if her care was not abundant, it amounted to far more than my brother's.

My thoughts roamed to other pointless subjects as I gingerly made my way to school. I had no idea what was to happen next. I did not want another repeat of the hospital, especially after Alice had left. Receiving stitches was not on my To-Do list.

The one thing my mind tending to avoid, however, was the fact that my father would not be happy. Not in the slightest. I tried to ignore him, even while his image hovered in the corner of my brain.

When I finally made it to school, I smiled when I realized I had arrived at the perfect time. Scanning the parking lot, my smile widened when I realized Alice was already here. I looked around for her.

It only took me a moment. In the end, I had not spotted her, but Edward. His bronze hair was a beacon in the sea of blondes and brunettes. The figure next to him was what made me smile though. I quickened my limping pace to see her once more.

Alice's Point of View

Bella had driven me to school, and after that grueling night, I couldn't wait to see Jasper again. It seemed like forever ago. I stood anxiously next to Edward, partially tuning out his rant about the injustices of the modern day education system. Instead, I was concentrating on searching the crowd of people for the familiar sandy blonde hair. It was nowhere in sight.

"And furthermore, what is the point of having such an academic schedule that inhibits you from taking another class rather than gym? Since when is it required to stand around and do nothing for a whole hour? I could be taking Latin or something else equally important. But no, I have to…"

"Edward!" I yelled, cutting him off mid-sentence. He stopped and looked at me innocently, despite the passion in his tone just moments ago.

"Yes?"

I gave him a look clearly stating for him to stop. He got the message and smiled. "What's made you so happy today?" He inquired, not being the least bit sarcastic. He was completely serious.

"Why would you say I was happy?" I laughed, clearly confused. I hadn't been angry at Edward for him speaking, but I had wanted him to shut up. I succeeded.

"You have been practically unresponsive all last week. What's changed?"

I took a moment to debate on how I should respond to Edward, but my retort was cut off when I spoke involuntarily. "Jasper!" I shouted, having caught sight of him heading toward the three of us. Bella was engrossed in one of her book under the tree.

"Ah, I see." Edward said jokingly, as if he had not noticed the change in both my voice and demeanor. I hit his shoulder before practically running over to meet Jasper.

His eye was still bruised and his stitches looked particularly gruesome, but apart from a new limp, he seemed to be as intact as he was when I left him yesterday. I wrapped my arms around him, as far as they would go. All of the anxiety drained away; it always did when I was with him.

"What happened?" I demanded when I finally let my arms drop. I did not, however, take a step back. I had to look up to read his facial expression, but I tried to ignore the height differences between the two of us.

I could tell immediately he knew what I was talking about. He looked down, but this time it wasn't to avoid eye contact. "Bad night." He said. He sounded tired. Heck, he looked tired. Instead of demanding the details, I once again gave him a sturdy hug.

"It wasn't my fault, right?" I asked quietly so that no one would overhear. I could feel Jasper shake his head no.

"Of course not." He whispered back. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to completely relax in his embrace. I was unsure how long we stood this way, but after a moment, I heard someone yell to us.

"Get a room!" I immediately stepped away from Jasper, half embarrassed for getting caught. He gave me a wry smile.

"I missed you."

"Me too." I smiled back. On an impulse, I grabbed his hand and pulled him back over to where Edward, Bella, and I were waiting. We still had a few minutes before we had to enter the school. Jasper willingly followed me over. His mood was as good as mine, seeing as he still had that grin on his face.

"Hey, Jasper." Bella said from her spot on the ground. She had seemed far too oblivious to notice his arrival, but clearly I was wrong. I looked over to Jasper to see his response.

The smile immediately dropped off his face. He looked solemn now. "Hi, Bella," He paused and look to Edward. "Edward." He said, nodding his head. His voice was soft and hardly audible over all of the other noise.

"What kept you out of school?" Edward asked with what seemed like mild curiosity. I wanted to groan in exasperation. I knew there was more of a reason behind his question, there always was when it came to Edward.

Jasper looked at Edward for a moment as if he were surveying his mood, deciding an answer. I bit my lip in anticipation, even if I knew what Jasper was going to say. "I was sick."

I let out a breath I didn't know why I was holding. It was the most obvious answer, one that wasn't entirely believable, but the fact that he responded soothed me. I looked to Edward for his reaction. It was clear he wasn't buying it. For the second time today, I wanted to tell him to shut up. But this time, I remained silent.

"Really?" Edward asked on his exhale. His words were airy and soft. I thought for a moment Jasper didn't hear him. It was a while before he responded.

"Why would I lie?" Jasper asked in an equally quiet tone.

"Why don't you ever tell the truth?" He was accusing this time. Edward took a step forward as he spoke. I took a step back, begging for this all to stop immediately. I didn't like conflict. Not this kind especially. Jasper looked oblivious to the escalating argument, but I knew that was far from the truth. Jasper was aware of everything going on around him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with an even tone.

"What do you think it's supposed to mean, Jasper? It means that your lies are as thin as paper. Nobody actually believes you half of the time, don't you get that?" Edward's voice was growing increasingly more heated. I sunk down to my knees, but neither seemed to take notice. I wanted to cover my ears, but I found myself too engrossed with the words, the responses. I wanted to cry.

"If you're accusing me of lying, Edward, just stop. What goes on is my business. It's not my fault that people always feel the need to pry into my life. They always need an answer and I give them one, what else should I do?" Jasper was shaking. He was getting angry too, but he still portrayed no other outward symptoms of his feelings.

Edward didn't seem to notice his quivering body. While I got more and more nervous, he seemed to grow more enraged. He was speaking loudly, but over the deafening roar of other students, nobody paid us more than a glance. "How about trust somebody? Tell them the truth? It's not like it would kill you."

"And how would you know that?" Jasper said, sounding patronizing. "If you honestly have no idea, how do you know the severity? Please, Edward. Explain it to me."

"I'm not oblivious. I have a pretty good idea of what happens, Jasper. I can't help you if you don't tell me anything."

"Why does everybody assume I need help, that I want help?" Jasper's calm demeanor was completely dropped. I crawled next to Bella when he started demanding Edward to answer. It was then that I noticed I was shaking as hard as Jasper. Bella wrapped her arm around me, book forgotten.

"Because you're not dealing with it on your own!" I winced. Bella's gripped tightened. "You have to tell somebody or do something. What if something happened to you? You didn't see Alice for the past week. You didn't see her mope around all day. What if something happened to you and you got yourself killed? If not for your own sake, think about hers!" I didn't like the fact that Edward brought me into this conversation. In fact, I didn't like the conversation at all. It hardly ever occurred to me that Jasper's life was at stake. It wasn't, right?

"Don't bring Alice into this." Jasper said as he knew what I was previously thinking. Too bad he continued on after that, making my tears fall harder. "It's her own fucking fault for getting into this. I told her right off the bat. And… And…" Jasper's voice was thick with something. Tears?

"And what, Jasper?" Edward interrupted him before he could continue, not that I thought he would. Jasper looked like he couldn't say much of anything. I wanted to hug him and slap him at the same time, but _I _couldn't do anything but cry. "Are you just going to put the blame on everyone else? It not like this isn't your fault! You can stop it all. Easily."

There was a pregnant pause. Jasper took an audibly breath and stepped away from the situation. I found myself rising to my feet and looking at him. He was shaking really hard, as was I.

"You have no idea." Jasper sighed. All the anger, the hate, it was gone. All that was left was the quiet, shy voice I had come to know was Jasper's. With that, He turned around and walked back the way he came from.

My legs were too numb to follow. All I could do was stand there, dumbfounded. At the last minute, I reminded myself I had to stop him. "Jasper! Wait!" I called out. It was then that he broke out into a run.

"Just let him cool down for a minute. He'll be back." Bella reassured me.

I just stood there, hardly comprehending anything. I barely noticed Bella giving me a hug, or Edward mumbling about how he blew it. I was all too focused on the bit of road Jasper had disappeared on.

He was gone. I knew he would come back. He always did. Every time I got worked up about him, which was often, he came back. What would make this any different?

I closed my eyes and sunk back down to the ground, trying to distract my mind from the fact that the minute I got him back, he was ripped away once again. It was like fate was keeping us apart.

Have you ever been in a storm? A really big one? Well, when I was little my parents took me to Florida for a vacation. I was probably six or so, just in first grade. Back then I was scared of everything. And when I say that, I really mean _everything. _My parents had to drag me into the car, onto the plane, everywhere.

It turns out that I was right about that vacation though. I told Mom and Dad repeatedly that I had a bad feeling. They didn't believe me. I might not always be right, but in this situation, I was.

On the third day in "paradise," a storm hit. It wasn't anything major compared to what could have been, but it was a lot worse than anything in Washington. Rain pelted, wind could bend trees, and everything seemed to shutter. I remember cuddling up among the blankets under a table, waiting for it all to end.

And when it did, when I finally opened my eyes to see what the damage was, everything looked exactly the same as it had been. The sky was blue again, the blue tourists love to see. The birds came out so fast it was hard to believe. You would have thought I had imagined it all. It never even happened.

I felt the same way now, seated beneath the tree waiting for school to start. The weather hadn't changed, the rocks didn't quake. Nothing was different than just moments before everything broke out. The other students didn't notice the absence of the boy who never spoke. He wasn't all too noticeable to everyone else. When Jasper left, he brought the storm with him, leaving me in a sense of false security.

And just as I had been on my vacation, I felt estranged from this peaceful setting. My mood was paired with the past, still upset and anxious. I surveyed the people around me with my sight, only the other two participants in this "storm" seemed at all shaken.

Bella sat next to me, one arm draped around my shaking form. I would have to thank her when I found my voice, but I couldn't get myself to utter a word in the present. My throat had swelled shut, making even breathing seem twice as hard as it would on an average day.

Edward didn't seem like one to be consoling now; he was just as restless as me. He was muttering to himself, too quietly for anyone else to here. I wanted to yell at him too. I wanted to be mad at him, but I could find the energy to make room for any other emotions that the ones ravaging my system.

I think the bell rung sometime after Jasper left. That was the only excuse I could think of for why we seemed to be the only people out. I was in no position to attend classes, and Edward and Bella seemed to have no problem playing hooky. We stayed under the tree before I, of all people, managed to think logically. "We need to move or go to class." I muttered under my breath, surprised I even managed to speak.

Bella's head snapped up when I spoke, looking at me with her trademark look: sympathy. Edward took no notice to my words. I looked back to Bella. "Are you going to go to class?" I asked, trying to sound normal despite my inner turmoil.

She studied me for a moment before replying in an equally soft tone. "Are you?"

I open my mouth, ready to respond, and then closed it again. Was I going to class? This morning I would have told you yes. I would have been excited to say yes. But was it worth going to attend grueling classes I wasn't even going to pay attention to? The answer was obvious. If not for that reason than for the fact that my heart and thoughts yearned to follow Jasper, wherever he was. "No, but you don't have to skip with me."

"I want to stay with you. Don't worry about Jasper, he'll be okay." Bella said, trying to comfort me further. I wanted to distract myself from him. I wanted to think rationally for a moment. When I didn't respond immediately to Bella, she looked over to Edward. "Are you coming with us?" She asked, simultaneously pushing herself off the ground and whipping the dirt of her jeans. I made no effort to do the same. My legs hardly felt solid, yet alone stable.

Edward whipped around to look at Bella. His eyes, previously wild, softened when he saw her. I felt my heart pull in the direction Jasper left in when I saw the look the two exchanged. I averted my eyes. "I'm sorry, Alice." He whispered. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Not here, Edward." I said, trying to sound completely normal, or at least trying to keep the emotions out of my voice. I stood up as Bella had done moments ago and began to walk without turning to see if the others were following. Judging by the two distinct footsteps behind me, I would say they were.

I didn't bother with a car. I could have asked Bella or Edward to drive me anywhere I wanted to go, but I wanted to walk. I wanted to follow Jasper's steps to reach his destination. Without even thinking, I knew where that was.

It was so weird knowing Jasper. We hardly knew anything about each other. I had barely talked with him. We had only exchanged the 'I love you's once. But somehow, I knew everything about him. I knew where he was headed. I knew what he wanted most in the world. I just _knew. _And it had nothing to do with my special ability.

Edward and Bella didn't comment on the fact I had set off without telling them our current destination. They followed diligently, putting trust in my knowledge. Both were silent throughout the passage through the parking lot. It was almost amusing how the second we crossed some invisible barrier to the outside world, Edward began to talk.

"Look, I didn't mean what I said Alice. I just, I just have known him so long. I thought that we could have a decent conversation and that I could help him. I didn't mean to pick a fight." Edward said softly, trying to apologize.

"You don't need to say sorry to me. I'm not the one you openly accused of lying in front of his friends. I'm not the one who _pretended _to be his friend." I said bitterly. I wanted to be angry at Edward. I really just wanted to be pissed off. I wasn't, but he didn't know that.

"Alice, you know I didn't intend to say that." Edward trailed off.

"Do I? Did he? Only you know your own intentions. You could have been planning this the entire time." I spat out, feeling my anger slightly rise as I thought about it more and more.

"Please don't fight." Bella whispered to the both of us. "He was just trying to help."

"Oh, so you're defending him? Come on, Bella. You know what Jasper has to deal with, he doesn't need this on top of it all!"

"Dealing with what?" Edward said, clearly confused. "Why do I feel out of the loop?"

Bella gave Edward a look clearly stating for him to stop talking. I didn't know how to feel about his words. Half of me felt sorry for Edward. He really had Jasper's best interests in mind, or so I assume. The other half of me was simply angry at what Edward had said. Did he really have to say those things and ruin it all? It didn't seem that way to me. I huffed in exasperation.

"Maybe it was because we released you couldn't help and it was likely you would screw things up."

"Why are you so mad?" Edward said. His voice sounded so innocent I had to turn around. He was staring at me while walking. I would have kept his gaze, but I wanted to remain in front of him. I swiftly turned around before thinking of his question.

I wanted to answer honestly. When the words came pouring out of my mouth, I hadn't given them a second thought. "He's always cornered into everything. Even I had to. When I realized we could be friends, I forced his hand to do so. His parents don't give him much of a choice, and lets face it: is school really about the freedom of choice? I suppose I was upset because you did the same thing I did. You cornered him. Needless to say, your 'conversation' was a bit louder than ours, but it was practically the same. If I could change the way I approached him- how everyone approaches him- I would. There's no reason for me to be angry with you, Edward. I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm mad at myself for letting him go."

I had absolutely no idea where the words had come from, and I knew they certainly did not make sense, but I didn't speak. In fact, Edward didn't respond either. Bella was waiting for us to resolve this. We walked in silence for a few moments, but it was bothering me. I quickly spoke. "Do you guys even know where I'm taking you?" I asked with a mischievous glint in my eye, trying not to think of Jasper alone right now.

Bella cracked a smile and shook her head no. "Where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." I sighed dramatically. Both Bella and Edward rolled their eyes behind my back, but I knew what they were doing.

Jasper POV

I was still shaking. I watched my hands as the shook on their own accord. A lot of things can cause that symptom. Pain can. It's happened to me before. I don't know the logistics behind it, but it's happened to me. Anxiety causes it too. It happens to me every time I go to talk to a teacher.

They were shaking now too, and not only my hands. I was trembling, but I could not tell from what. I was not in pain- or at least significant pain, I wasn't scared either. But somehow, I couldn't keep myself still. I wasn't even mad, how could I still be shaking?

Sometimes my sister would help me out after I was punished, even if I didn't deserve it. I was usually a wreck afterword, almost always shaking. Amanda would sit there and tell me to breathe deeply. It always helped to have her soothing voice.

It's amusing how she took care of me like that. She is younger than me, and it's considered abnormal for your baby sister to baby her older brother. Sometimes Amanda was really nice and caring like that, sometimes she wasn't.

Joshua always helped me out, and that's plain pathetic. Who gets help from their four year old brother? I'm over ten years his senior. That's depressing. At least I can say my twin brothers don't help me out, but we don't actually talk that much, so that's no much of an accomplishment, is it?

It seemed that I had always dwelled on being taken care of. My younger siblings, sometimes my mom, Edward, and now Alice. I always ran away from my problems and arrived at one of them. But now, considering it, I am unsure how many of those people I have left.

I can't go home, not anytime soon. That means I can't talk to my mother, and my siblings would be risky to see. Clearly Edward was out of the picture. And Alice? I said some pretty terrible things back there. My father would have lashed me had he heard me talk about her like that. I was raised better.

But I was pathetic, wasn't I? I think I have already established that. It was fairly clear to everybody that I cannot hold a relationship, or anything else for that matter. I couldn't do much of anything. My parents tried to help me out. My dad tried to force me to see reason, to shock me into a better life. But I had failed him. I failed everybody.

I leaned back on the branch I was sitting on, allowing myself to see up into the leaves. The sun wouldn't have shown through the ample foliage even if it was out, which it wasn't. Although that was true, the tree was no protection against the rain, and I was getting wetter by the second.

I had to stick my cast under my shirt for protection. It was clearly not supposed to get wet. It may or may not have been damaged by the rain, but from past experience I knew I didn't want to take my chances.

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the words I had said. Try as I might to avoid those thoughts, they had followed me all the way to the park and up the tree, circling around my head like annoying gnats.

"_It's not my fault that people always feel the need to pry into my life." _I had said to Edward, trying to just get him to stop yelling. That had been one of my first mistakes, but certainly not the last. The words I had spoke about Alice had been much worse. _"It's her own fucking fault for getting into this. I told her right off the bat."_

And that hadn't even been the worst. They weren't the words floating about in my head. Those belonged to Edward. I remembered it word for word_. "You have to tell somebody or do something. What if something happened to you? You didn't see Alice for the past week. You didn't see her mope around all day. What if something happened to you and you got yourself killed? If not for your own sake, think about hers!"_

I opened my eyes again. With the rain, you could hardly tell I was crying, but I could distinctly feel each tear among the raindrops. They burned my skin. I didn't deserve to be crying. I could still hear Alice calling my name. It rang over and over, growing louder and louder.

"Jasper!" She called. Accompanied by a rather large rock hitting my leg, I jumped in surprise. "Well, finally. I thought you had died up there." She laughed when I looked down. Her typically spiky hair was matted down to her scalp, there were streaks of make-up on her cheeks, and here eyes were puffy and red. But despite that, I looked down and saw the most beautiful girl smiling back at me.

"Alice?" I whispered slightly, trying to smile. I thought about what Edward had said about her. "_You didn't see Alice for the past week. You didn't see her mope around all day. What if something happened to you and you got yourself killed?" _I couldn't help but feel the ghost of a smile on my face disappear. "I'm so sorry, Alice."

"Get down here right now, Mister." She demanded with her hands on her hips. She looked intimidating even with her small stature. I managed to slide as gracefully as possible with one arm down the tree. I landed in front of her.

As soon as I was down from the tree, I began to apologize, my eyes downcast. "I shouldn't have said that stuff. I was raised better. You didn't deserve to hear that. I don't deserve-"

She cut me off with her actions. Wrapping her arms around me was about one of the only things she could have done to make me quiet, and somehow she knew this. When I felt her arms encompass me, my ability to put thoughts to words ceased to work. "I forgive you." Alice said.

I didn't know what to say or how to respond. I'm sure she was getting the wrong signs. When you hug somebody, you expect it to be reciprocated. I couldn't, and it wasn't because I didn't want to hug her. My brain stopped processing and I stood there as stiff as a bored.

That didn't bother Alice. After a good minute or so, she pulled away, teary-eyed. It was that sight that queued my brain back into functioning. "I didn't mean to hurt you." I said, still avoiding her gaze. She stepped closer to the point that despite my lowered gaze, her face was in view.

"I'm crying because I thought I wasn't going to see you again, not because you said something in the heat of the moment." She explained, wrapping her arms around my neck. I felt my body involuntarily tense, but Alice took no notice. "_I'm _sorry I didn't see this coming." She whispered into my ear.

I opened my mouth to tell her nothing could ever be her fault, but the words were left unspoken when I heard someone clear their throat. Alice let go of me and whipped around with a blush on her face.

I followed her gaze to see Bella and Edward awkwardly watching a few feet away. Actually, Bella was sitting next to Edward, her foot elevated on Edwards legs, who was seated beside her.

"I almost forgot about you." Alice chuckled, looking upward in embarrassment. Her grin was widespread and she looked completely happy. It looked like she didn't have a worry in the world.

"Almost? Really? It didn't look like almost to me." Bella said. Edward didn't make his usual comment. I avoided eye contact with both of them.

"So what do you say?" Alice placated us with her childlike voice. Her gaze flicked between me and Edward. I knew what she wanted me to say, but I didn't want to say it. I might have been sorry to Alice, but Edward? I didn't shift my eyes upward to see his face, but I didn't have to.

"I'm sorry, Jasper. I shouldn't have said that stuff." Edward said, the regret in his voice apparent.

I didn't want to be in this situation. I wanted to run again, as I had done before. I stood, still stiff. I closed my eyes and raised my head. When I open my eyes again, they immediately sought out Edward. He looked sorry, and I did forgive him. But did I want to say sorry to him? Had I said anything about him that I didn't mean?

"It's fine." I managed to say when I found an adequate response. Edward nodded, and I realized I had managed to avoid causing the conversation to turn awkward. But had I? After I spoke, there was silence. I thought of things I could say to break the quiet. At least then I could sit down or something along those lines. "So you skipped school?" I asked softly, directing most of my question to Alice.

"You mean that much to me." She said with a grin. "And you even got Edward and Bella to skip. That's an accomplishment."

I gave Alice a smile. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the other two. My limp was pronounced even further after the run here and I am sure they all noticed it, but nobody said a thing. I sat down a few feet away from Edward and Bella. Alice sat between us obliviously.

"So you guys do realize that this is the first time I have ever skipped school, don't you?" Bella laughed, blushing.

"Well this calls for a celebration, doesn't it?" Edward asked, eyes only toward Bella, who blushed further.

"What do you want to do?" She said. It was apparent the two were having a conversation only with each other. I remained quiet. Alice, of course, did not get the memo.

"Well I know what I'm going to do." She said with a false aloof tone in her voice. She paused dramatically before continuing. "I'm going to take Jasper to my house. He hasn't been over in a while."

Alice stood up and grabbed my hand pulling me behind her once again. She turned around and waved at the other two, who said goodbye and clearly did not have a problem with our departure. Only when they were out of hearing range did Alice speak again.

"I hope you don't mind. I could tell they wanted to be alone." She said, acting more timid now that it was only us. "But we can go to my house, if you want. My parents aren't home, so they won't know we skipped. Maybe we can create some better memories than the last visit, huh?"

I smiled. "Anything would be better." I mumbled.

"You should talk louder." She said, out of the blue. I gave her a questioning look, amazed by her spontaneity. "You have a nice voice when you aren't mumbling."

"Thanks?" I asked.

"It's a compliment."

I nodded, once again unsure of what to say, but the silence between us was not awkward. I calmly walked beside her for a majority of the way until she turned around and faced me, still walking.

"So it's okay then? That we are going to my house?" She asked, clearly not troubled with the fact that she was walking backwards. I shrugged.

"We can't go to my house. So I suppose it this or the park." I tried to joke, like she did so much. It came out differently than intended and Alice's eyebrows furrowed.

"What happened at your house? Is that why you're limping?" She said, concern laced within her words. I shrugged again.

"Nothing new. It was just a tough night." I sighed, not wanting to lie to Alice.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No. I'm fine. More like I hurt myself." I tried to joke again. Alice was not laughing in the slightest. She looked somewhat angry. I knew I had to change the subject. I hadn't meant to tell her about the house. I didn't want her to know anything at all, yet alone the details.

"What happened?" She said, watching me with a compassionate, but hard gaze. I shifted my shoulders.

"I said something I shouldn't have. Instead of dealing with it I ran. I'm fine Alice." I tried to downplay it. Alice didn't look like she completely believe me.

"So what did he do when you got back?" She said quietly, as if she was afraid of the answer. I shrugged for the third time.

"I haven't gone back yet." I said honestly.

"So what are you going to do?" Alice asked innocently, a childlike quality in her eyes. I didn't want to tell her the severity of my actions. That wouldn't work. I wouldn't tell her that I was unsure of what would happen. That's not what she wanted to hear.

"I'm just going to let him calm down for a day or two, and then I'll come back." I responded, still not lying. Alice gave me a hug again. She let go quickly, but she left a feeling residing in me.

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking again. I would have to add Alice to the list of causes behind my trembling extremities.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Alice Point of View

My room was anything but clean. It had stacks of paper laying about, clustered on the desk and in my bookshelf. I had toys from when I was a toddler thrown haphazardly across the floor. My personal favorite addition to my eclectic collection was the old xylophone I had shoved in the corner. I hadn't bothered to find a new place for it when we moved.

But despite all of the junk, my room had this smooth, soft aura. The walls were painted a neutral color, the bedspread matched perfectly. The wood was an off-white and the shelves a slightly lighter color. Everything seemed to go together as if the room was made for the mentally imbalanced. As if one harsh shade would throw me off the rocker.

Maybe that was why among all the pleasantries, Jasper seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. His messy blond hair and bruised face somehow just _didn't _match the peach walls framing it. He sat on the bed quietly, just looking around the room with an eyebrow half raised.

I couldn't hold back a laugh any longer. "Don't like it?" I asked, plopping down on the bed next to him. I leaned back so I was lying down on the bed. I grabbed Jasper's arm so he was lying down next to me. He stiffly leaned back.

Lying parallel on the bed next to him, we weren't touching. However, that didn't change the fact that I felt very close to him. I turned my head to visibly watch him respond. After relaxing slightly, he gave me a wry grin. "I love the room."

"Really? Maybe I should decorate your room too." I said, disbelief clear on my face during the first part. Jasper's grin turned into a full smile.

"Are you going to climb up the tree to get in every time?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but I couldn't think of anything to say. I opted for a more serious response. "I should be able to enter through the front door." When the words came out of my mouth, I didn't mean for them to sound the way they did. My tone was harsher than I wanted it to be. It was almost disapproving.

Jasper turned his head towards the ceiling and didn't respond. I wouldn't have any of that. Without thinking I rolled over so my face was directly in front of his, my mouth only centimeters from his. "I don't care." I whispered quickly, only watching his eyes. He couldn't do anything but meet my gaze. "I will do whatever I have to just to be with you."

There was a pause. Jasper's eyes were widened in surprise, his muscles stiff. It took me a moment to realize that Jasper probably didn't know how to respond. His expression spoke volumes, though. I quickly leapt away from him in a blur. "I'm sorry." More silence before I heard Jasper murmur something. "What was that?" I asked, regret laced in my tone.

"I've already told you, you don't need to say that." Jasper spoke louder, watching me carefully as I had moment before, analyzing.

"I think that was an appropriate response. I invaded your bubble." I tried to joke, keeping my tone light. Jasper smiled slightly.

"You could never invade my bubble, Alice." As he spoke the words, I couldn't help but separate the truth from the lies. It was only assumed that I had invaded his personal space too many times, or so I thought. Did Jasper really not believe I had gotten too close a time or two?

"I don't believe you." I smirk taking a step forward with the confidence I didn't feel.

"No?" Jasper whispered.

"Absolutely not. Not a word." I took another step forward so that we were practically touching. Because of our height difference, My face was close to being smashed into his chest. Nevertheless, I tilted my head upward so that I was still watching him. "Even now?" I said, amusement predominant in my voice. Jasper rolled his eyes.

Before he could respond, I broke out in a fit of laughter. I took several steps back and fell onto the bed, rolling around from the comical expression on his face. The situation was far too humorous to be ignored.

Jasper smiled slightly, and I was glad to have put him in such a good mood. When my fit died down, I rolled over on the bed to the point where I was watching him. He had found a place on the floor in the room, rather far away from me if I might add. "So can I invade your bubble?" I asked, trying to sound superior.

Jasper laughed, but did not answer the question. I knew I had won. There was more silence after his chuckled had died down, but I was completely content with it all. I watched Jasper's expression change from the light happiness to a more contemplative one as time passed. It turned darker and I felt like I had to interrupt.

"What are you thinking about?"

Jasper jumped slightly in his spot. His posture went rigid, and then relaxed as if he just remembered it was only me. He raised his previously downcast eyes to meet mine. "Nothing." He said, monotonous.

For some reason, my barely sufficient maternal gene kicked in and I felt like I had to comfort him more than ever. I slid from the bed and cautiously sat down next to him. "Tell me." I said, wrapping an arm around his hunched shoulders. The sudden change in the emotional atmosphere was alarming. The laughter had turned to brooding quickly.

Jasper looked reluctant to speak, and this convinced me to prompt him even farther. "You know, I can handle it. I understand more than the average person." I tried to say with a smile, but it wasn't as genuine as it should have been.

Jasper sighed quietly, more to himself than to me. "I want to tell you." He said softly. "And I had never wanted to tell somebody before. I did tell you, or you found out. It doesn't make a difference. I want to tell you more, but…" He trailed off. I didn't say anything, hoping to get more of what he was going to say. "I can't tell you anything. The words, they just don't form. It doesn't come out the way I want it to."

I felt it was my turn to speak up. "Then just blabber, it's what I do." The comment sounded misplaced to my own ears, but Jasper smirked slightly. "I can listen, even if it doesn't make sense."

"I never took you for the listening type." He said, poking fun at me despite the serious tone. I gave him a cheesy grin. "My parents are good people. They love my siblings, they love me. I know it may not seem like it, but they do. And I love them back, even if I get so scared when my dad gives me that look. He kicked me out of the house, but not really. He wouldn't have to do that if I didn't do something wrong. I just can't be like my siblings. They… They are so good at pleasing my dad. It's my own fault, and I'm lucky to have them." He opened his mouth to say more, but I cut him off.

"You think you are lucky? You're not a bad kid. You shouldn't have to deal with what you do. A good parent should never raise a hand against a kid." The anger had bubbled up, blocking the little voice in my head that told me to shut up. I just couldn't help it. The defeat was all too apparent in Jasper's voice. "Especially a kid like you." I said softly at the end of my little rant.

"See? You made me out to be the good guy again. I'm not, Alice. That's what I'm trying to tell you." Jasper started, but I cut him off.

"What's the worst you've ever done, Jasper? What have you done that deserved your bones to be broken and your back to be scarred?"

Jasper looked hesitant to reply, but he did so, his eyes not looking up from the ground. His shoulders hunched even further. "I am disrespectful, I don't follow the rules, I-"

Though Jasper hadn't gotten a full sentence in yet, I started to speak over him before he could elaborate. "So do I!" I shouted, standing up to pace. "Do I deserve to be punished? If you do, so do I." I growled angry, stomping my feet like a child. Jasper looked forlorn, his mouth hung open with wide eyes. I wanted him to realize what he was saying, but the realization never dawn on his face. I started to pace faster.

"Alice…" Jasper trailed off after a moment or two. I swiveled my head to see what he had to say, interrupted from my internal fuming.

"Yes?" I said, noting the acerbic tone in my voice. Jasper flinched.

"I don't want to fight. Please don't be mad." He whined pitifully.

I walked over to where Jasper remained seated and slid down the wall. "I don't want to fight either Jasper, I just want you to realize that you haven't done anything wrong." When Jasper looked down at the floor I felt the need to reiterate. "Absolutely nothing."

Jasper didn't look up, but I could still here his voice loud and clear when he spoke. "Can we just drop the subject?" He didn't sound mad, just disappointed. I obliged, but thinking of another subject proved to be difficult. It was Jasper who began to speak minutes after his request. "So when are your parents going to be home?" He said, fumbling around for words.

I watched him closely. Jasper wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy. His mood had turned so many times while he was here, but now he seemed calm, disconnected. I subtly scooted closer to him, trying to bring back the laughter that rung out not more that five minutes ago. It took me a moment to realize that I hadn't answered Jasper's question yet.

When did my parents get home? I could hardly think this close to Jasper. Our sides were almost touching, my hand inches from his. I sighed. "My mom gets home about five; Dad gets in at six thirty-one on the dot." Even I could tell I sounded distracted. I looked down in embarrassment.

"Exactly?" Jasper said in that same collected note. I nodded, not looking up yet. "Hm..." He said. He now sounded distracted. Knowing he hadn't moved, I looked up curiously to see what had gotten his attention. His eyes were focused on me. "Sorry I got frustrated."

Blushing slightly, I couldn't hold back a smile. "I'm sorry I pried." I laughed, standing up. "So we have the whole day to do nothing, what are we going to do?" I said in a loud and bubbly voice.

"That makes a lot of sense." Jasper nodded.

"Oh I know, now answer the question."

"You do realize this is incredibly boring." I said, breaking the silence. Jasper looked at me as if I were crazy, which was possibly the case. I was still laying on my bed, but my head was hanging off upside-down. I could hear my heart beating loudly. It began erratically thumping every time Jasper spoke, as if I needed further reminding.

"You chose to do this." Jasper sighed, giving an expression that spoke emotions farther than his voice. His half-smirk was the reason I gave him a full blown smile back.

"But that doesn't mean I want to do this. In fact, I change my mind. Let's find something else to do." I said. Jasper raised an eyebrow questioningly at me. "Don't give me that look. I babble when I get bored, not that I'm bored right now." I paused, but continued again without thinking. "Okay, so I did just admit that I was bored, but why did you have to point it out?"

I quickly flipped over and got off the bed so that I was standing in front of Jasper. I put my hands on my hips, waiting for him to speak. When he did, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.

"I'm going to have to leave soon. It's getting close to five." He said. The smile was gone and his eyes were averted.

"Where are you going to stay, Jasper?" I said. I couldn't help the concern and pity that seeped in my voice, and I was sure Jasper did not appreciate it. On the bright side, my hands remained on my hips, giving him a rather mixed message.

"Around," Jasper mumbled, barely audible. I had to lean closer to hear the short response, but it left me none the better.

I didn't want to pry. I didn't want to be some obnoxious person that flirted too often and got into your privacy, but I didn't know if telling him that he couldn't spend the night "around" fell into that category. I opted for pleading eyes, hoping Jasper would get the message.

We always seemed to be on the same frequency, we just seemed to _get _each other. When I gave Jasper the most pitiful face I could muster, he sighed. "Where do you propose I stay?" He said in the soft voice of his, almost wanting to make me agree with him. _Almost. _

"Somewhere other than the park." I said quickly, not wanting to sway in my position.

"Where?"

"Here." I said, before I even thought about it. The word just came out of my mouth, and the moment it did I felt my cheeks inflame. Did I just say _here? _"I mean…" I didn't want to take it back, but I didn't know how Jasper interoperated my willingness to share a room with him. I hadn't meant _that. _

Jasper had looked like he was about to say something, like he already had a premade response. But clearly, I hadn't said what he thought I was going to say, the words dying on his lips. His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly closed his mouth and regained his composure. "Thanks, Alice, but I can find a place to stay. I don't need to trouble you."

His words sparked me like a flint and stone. I found more things coming out of my mouth before I even processed anything. "It wouldn't be a hassle, my parents would never know. They don't tuck me in, and even if they did there are tons of places to hide. My closet is like a second bedroom. I even have a cot in there."

Jasper looked embarrassed, but I knew I could pressure him into it. I tried to make the place sound more enjoyable. "I can bring dinner up for you and you could just hang in here for a little while I'm at dinner. It's no big deal. You're my friend, Jasper. Think of it as a sleepover party." I tried to joke in the end, and I got a slight smile from Jasper. "Please." I said, trying to plead with him. "I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you were outside, and I'm already getting a headache."

The guilt card seemed to work. The moment I said it would affect my health, Jasper reluctantly nodded. I felt pleased with myself. Although it had been a spur of the moment thing, I knew what I said had made sense. I convinced myself during the little speech.

"Great. I'm glad that's settled." I said with a mischievous grin, thinking of my coercion. "How long do you have to wait before things will blow over at home?" I changed the subject. Jasper's face became even more somber than before. I grimaced at having brought it up, once again feeling like the controlling-not-really-girlfriend.

"I don't know." Jasper said slowly, clearly deep in thought. I waited for him to continue, but when he did not, I felt obliged to clear him from having to continue.

"Its okay if you don't know. You're invited here as long as you don't tell my parents." I kept my chipper façade.

"I feel so welcome." He said, the sarcasm clear in his tone, even if it wasn't bitter.

"We try to be accommodating." I continued in a more serious tone after the brief statement. "I think my mom is going to be home in a few minutes. Do you want to get everything ready before she comes?"

It wasn't really a question. If Jasper wanted a bed tonight, he would have to start now. I pulled him onto his feat and opened the door to my closet without a second thought. It took me a full minute to realize Jasper had remained in the doorway, astonishment on his face. "What?" I asked innocently.

"You're closet is-" He paused as if trying to find an accurate description for my vast storing space.. "It's so big." He said lamely after a minute.

"It's a down-size. You know I still haven't gone shopping since I moved here? My parents made me donate some of my clothes since they thought I didn't wear them all. But I did, that's the problem. My fashion has been terrible in Forks, I'm probably sending the wrong impression." I explained, giving a forlorn look to the spot where my previous clothes were supposed to have hung. I sighed. "Anyway, I have a cot in here somewhere. I went to a dance camp when I was ten, and I would not sleep on the floor. I made my parents buy me one. It should be under here somewhere."

I bent over to retrieve the bed, but it wasn't in the first place I looked. Checking under various shelves and hangers, I watched Jasper out of the corner of my eye. He had stayed in the doorway, not even attempting to come in. Well, I understand his point; there were girl clothes in here. That could be scary for the opposite gender. I tried to think of another subject as I rummaged. One question kept popping in my mind even if I knew now was not the appropriate time to ask it.

"Why were you limping today? You said you hurt yourself. How could you do that?" I asked when I had ducked my head into the hanging coats so Jasper would not have to see my expression. He did not answer immediately, and I feared that he wouldn't at all when I heard him murmur the answer.

"I jumped out the window." It was quiet and that's what I thought he said, but it didn't make sense.

"What?" I asked dumbly, wondering if I had heard wrong. I pulled my head out to clarify that it was not a joke.

"I was locked myself in my room, but my dad was pounding at the door. I had to go." He said, looking at the clothes rather than me. "I only made it down the tree partway before I heard him get in. I jumped and landed wrong."

I gave him a quick glance. "How did he get in if you locked the door?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"He's pretty big." Jasper said as an explanation. I resisted the urge to gasp.

"So he was that mad, huh?" My voice sounded fake, but it was better than if I hadn't tried to keep out the mix of anger and terror in my tone. Jasper shrugged.

I opened my mouth to yell at him for his apparent indifference when Jasper interrupted me. "Is this the cot?" He asked pointing at the make-shift table I had leaning against the wall. There were multiple pairs of jeans draped over it, but on closer inspection, I found that it was, in fact, the cot.

"Yeah, we just have to set it up." I nodded. I realized yelling would be useless now and it was better to just drop the subject.

Just as I was about to start removing the clothing lying on top of the cot, I heard my mother's voice drift up the stairs, beckoning me to come downstairs and help cook dinner. I gave Jasper an apologetic look, suddenly afraid that if I spoke my mother would surely hear. Jasper nodded and I slid out of the room and down the stairs mouthing "Be back later," to my roommate for the night.

As I made my way down the stairs, I realized that I was going to have to make it through dinner acting completely normal. I could even hint to my perceptive parents that I had a guest, a male guest, upstairs. Knowing my lying skills, this would be interesting

Jasper POV

When Alice left the room, I could practically feel the happiness drift away with her. The room wasn't as bright and promising; the walls seemed to close in on each other. I had the feeling of being trapped in a closet without her here with me.

Not that being trapped in Alice's closet was a bad thing. It was larger than my room at home and had clothes hanging and piled and stored throughout. Out of any closet to be locked in, Alice's was pretty high up on the list, and maybe not only for the space.

It certainly wasn't like our hall closet. That one was small and hard to maneuver around, especially after I had peaked in height. However, it wasn't that beforehand was any better. At least with age I had managed to not cry, furthering the time spent in my previous extended bedroom.

I sat on the floor once again, in the same spot as I had been before. I tried to diminish my thoughts, directing them elsewhere. But somehow, it just didn't work- like always. I found sitting on the floor with my head between my knees was the best solution. At first, I had tried to wait on the bed, but after several awkward moments I decided the comfort and exposure was not worth it. It was just too… weird.

The floor wasn't too bad anyway. Although there was clutter surrounding me, the carpet had been recently vacuumed and dust was not apparent. I wrapped my good arm around my knees, the casted one rested on top. The edges of the white device were frayed from where I had subconsciously pulled on them. It was obviously blank and not adorned with the typical writings and messages.

It was almost amusing how easily I managed to live with hardly any use out of my right appendage. Having the pain gone was like I had lost my arm entirely. Something was just missing.

There was a clang from downstairs, causing me to jump. I looked up from the cast and fixed my eyes on the closed door. I didn't like being in here. The rational part of my brain was telling me that the door was closed so I was not to be detected, that it was a good thing it remained close. On the other hand, I couldn't help the panic that automatically made itself known as I remained fixated on the door.

Have you ever read a book were they mention a shiver running down your spine? I had never believed it when I was younger. I had two modes, terror and calm. But as I got older, I gained control over the unruly things and had more of a middle tone. It was then that I experienced what I had only read about, just as I had in the present.

A cold forced pushed itself down my body. My head spun as if I had just competed in a twirling contest and my heart began to pound. Its funny how all the side-effects could rush out simultaneously when all I had done was glanced at a block of wood attached to two hinges and painted an innocent white.

I picked myself up from the floor and walked to the other end of the room, more to soothe myself than for any practical reason. It didn't work, but simple tactics never seemed to have an effect. Nothing worked quite like Alice.

Alice. The thought smothered my emotions like a blanket. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall from my standing position. She was just downstairs, and the reminder of that made my heart ache. I had an impulse to go and greet her downstairs, but somehow I thought that her parents might not appreciate that.

To be perfectly honest, I knew very little about Alice's parents. I knew her dad was a doctor, and her mom worked somewhere. I knew that her dad was hard to win over while her mom seemed to be the polar opposite. She had liked _me _when she meet me. That was saying something. I knew I was not a very approachable person, yet alone likable. If the various bruises didn't deter you, my personality would.

I sighed and moved to the other corner of the room. Not the one I had started off in, but the third one opposite of the closet. I stood there and then lowered myself to the ground. I winced as my cast banged against the wall on my descent. The pain hadn't caused it, though it was noticeable. No, the sound that echoed wasn't good. Lurching upward, I headed into the closet and stood bewildered in the middle, waiting for the telltale sound of stomping feet and angry voices. It was quiet. I had to remind myself that I was in Alice's house and not my own.

The fact that the closet had been my escape was slightly amusing. I wouldn't say that closets had ever been my happy place. I didn't have all too many fond memories of them. Whatever the initial reasoning had been, I didn't bother trying to analyze it as I walked out in a hurry. I didn't want to think about the content of the drawers or other personal areas. It seemed like an invasion of privacy even if Alice had invited me into it.

I walked back into the closet with the sudden urge to set the cot up. I tried to be as quiet as possible and hopefully my goal was achieved. I delicately moved each article of clothing to a respectable place before opening the bed up. It was a thin mattress atop a sturdy, metal, but collapsible frame. When it was finally in working condition, I laid down on top of it. I wasn't tired, and certainly I hadn't been aiming to re-enter the closet, but I did so anyway.

When I had my head resting on my arm and my legs curled up against me, I felt strangely comfortable, more so than I had been in a while. I the muscles in my extremities relax, then my shoulders, and when my neck was no longer tense, I found myself closing my eyes and thinking of absolutely nothing. Not of school, Alice, Edward, or my current situation at home. For the first time in forever, I found myself drifting off into a dreamless slumber.

Alice Point of View

"Can you pass the tofu?" My mother inquired of me as I poked the blob of gelatinous goo I had just served onto my own plate. I handed the bowl off to my mom as I continued to prod the "food" with my fork.

"Is that what this is?" I asked, not really trying to be funny, but trying to figure what _exactly _I was eating.

"Of course, hun. It's supposed to be healthy for you. For every eighty-five gram serving, there are only six grams of fat. That's much better than ground beef. Did you know that has twenty-two grams of fat per serving? That's hardly nutritional. Who can stand that much fat in one serving? You know-"

"Oh, this is so good." My father exclaimed, cutting my mom short. I couldn't hold back the smirk when I turned to see my father with a false grin on his face, eating the tofu. "We should never go back to meat." He continued, making a face at the flavor.

"Are you patronizing me?" My mom asked, a warning on her visage. My father shook his head no, but we all knew the only reason he was so vocal about the taste was to get her to stop talking about the nutritional facts. "Good." My mother said simply before turning back to me. "How was school today, Alice?"

I open my mouth to tell her about the biology test I had, or the new assignment we had in U.S. history when I realized that I _didn't _have a test in biology and I certainly wasn't there for history either. I hadn't even made it to fist period. I spoke as quickly as I could process the facts through my mind. "It was good."

If either my mom or my dad realized that I was lying, they didn't call me out on it. Instead, my mother went back to eating her serving of carrots and my father turned to look at his own plate. I looked at mine and realized that the only way I was going to make it back to Jasper within the hour would be to eat it all- quickly. I picked up my fork once again and delicately tried to cut the tofu in half. It molded down in the shape of the fork, but did not cut. I picked up my knife and proceeded to eat my serving of "meat" as fast as my stomach could handle.

Now, tofu could be good, but you had to cook it properly. Whatever my mom had done to the food was more than it could handle. Nevertheless, I shoved my fork into my mouth repeatedly, quickly emptying my plate.

"Why are you eating so fast? That's not good for you." My mom scolded lightly. I forced myself to swallow before looking up.

"It's just really delicious, Mom." I said with a smile, hopefully a more authentic one than the one produced by my father. My mom raised her eyebrows.

"Now I know you guys are mocking me." She said with a shake of her head. I tried to give her an innocent look, but that just caused her to chuckle. "That hasn't worked on me in a while, Alice."

"I had to try." I shrugged, saying the first thing that popped in my head while simultaneously dropping the feigned look.

"I think Alice is excited for other reasons." My dad said with a sly tone in his voice. I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping he would stop it there. Father, well… Father doesn't catch on too quickly. He just smiled and continued on. "Now, my guess is that there is some kind of sale, no?"

I couldn't help but grin as my explanation was given to me. I opened my mouth to agree with my father when Mom cut in quickly. "No, it's not that. It's something else. I'm sure of it. Why are you so happy?"

When my mom sounded so sure, I knew I couldn't contradict her even if it was true. I decided to go with the half truth rather than an outright lie. "Jasper came back to school today. It was nice to see him." I said, tossing a steamed carrot into my mouth.

The smile faded from my mother's face and my dad sighed slightly. "We are going to have to talk about that. Back when I was in high school-" My father started before my mom cut him off. It would seem that less than half of our sentences were actually full today.

"Not now, honey. I want to know if this dessert is any good." She said, standing up despite the fact that her meal was only partially finished. I sighed and silently thanked my mom for stopping that conversation. I might have gotten mad at her last time she tried to discuss Jasper with me, but that didn't mean I couldn't be thankful she helped me out there.

All sense of gratitude, however, was out the door when my mom came back into the room with a greenish cake in her hands. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to do some baking." She said with a grin on her face.

"Oh," I said slightly, anxious to get upstairs and see Jasper, but not so excited to eat that cake.

At the same time I had spoken, my dad had too, speaking over my voice. "Did you add some food coloring for spirit?" He said hopefully.

My mom chuckled. "And add artificial flavoring too I suppose? Of course not. This is cabbage cake." I looked at the dessert in her hands skeptically.

"Cabbage cake?" My dad asked in disbelief.

"Well, I figured if everyone likes carrot cake, why not have a cabbage cake? Vegetables are interchangeable. So I took a recipe for carrot cake and just added cabbage instead."

I decided that waiting to go see Jasper was not an option, especially when the opportunity cost was _this. _I cautiously stood up. "Hey, mom?"

"Mhmm? She replied, not looking up from the cake which she was cutting. I couldn't help but grimace at the density of the cake.

"I'm really full. Can I go upstairs now?" I asked, not even bothering to put up my childlike façade.

"That's fine, but make sure you have your homework done." She said, her attention still not directed at me. My eyes widened at her answer.

"Honestly?" I asked. She never let me leave without helping her with the dishes or something. She nodded absentmindedly and I scampered up the stairs before she could change her mind.

"Jasper?" I whispered, walking into the room. It was dark. He clearly had not turned on the lights. But why would he be sitting in the dark? Surely he didn't consider the energy wasted if it was only to his benefit. I ran my hand along the wall to find the switch. But when I turned it on, he wasn't in the room.

I looked around the bed and in the conjoining bathroom before it dawned on me that I hadn't checked the most obvious place. I opened my closet to be greeted with the sight of a sleeping Jasper. I almost didn't recognize him. With his eyes closed, I didn't see those tell-all blue orbs. His features where completely devoid of any pain or embarrassment or anything else Jasper liked to torture himself with. He looked peaceful.

I guess I always figured Jasper was a light sleeper, but he didn't wake up when the light played across his face. I stood there, watching his breathing for some indefinite period of time. How could someone like Jasper seem so at ease? Ever? It took me several moments to pry my gaze away from him when I heard someone walking up the stairs. It never dawned on me that they were coming to see me until there was a knocking at my door. Slamming the closet door shut, I ran to the door and peeked my head out, feeling the apprehension in my stomach for no reason.

"Yes?" I asked impatiently, not bothering to check who it was. By the sound of someone clearing her throat, I had a pretty good guess who it was. "Sorry, Mom. What do you want?" I asked more politely.

"Can I come in?" She asked pleasantly. I didn't want to say yes, but I knew that I had not choice. I opened the door wider to signify that the answer was positive. She walked in and casually sat on the bed, looking more in place than I did.

"What did you want?" I asked again, trying not to sound as impatient as I had the first time.

"Well, I know I cut the subject off at dinner, but it really wasn't dinner appropriate. I wanted to talk to you about your physical relationship with Jasper." She said as if she was telling me about the weather.

You know, sometimes being blunt helps. Sometimes you just need to get straight to the point. I have always appreciated that talent in my mother, but right now? I could have strangled her. I felt my eyes widen to the size of saucers and the blood rush to my face. She had not just mentioned that. "You wanted to what?" I heard myself weakly ask.

"You need to know that while your father and I do not encourage it and would certainly dissuade you from doing so, we still have your best interest in mind and we want you to be safe."

"You think that I? That we?" I said stupidly.

"Honey, I was fifteen once too, and I know that you really like this boy. I know that you think you want what he wants, but you don't want that. You shouldn't want that." Her face was still calm and it was calmly watching me for my reaction. I blinked.

"Mom, it's not like that. We're not even dating. I mean, it's Jasper. He doesn't want that kind of stuff. _I _don't want that kind of stuff. He doesn't like me like that."

"You don't have to lie to me. I just want what's best for you. If you want, I can buy you some material needed for protection." She said, being particularly vague. "I want you to be safe. I know that boy, wherever he is, wants what all boys want, and I don't want that for you, but I can't stop you. I want to help you."

With her words, a sickening realization came upon me. I looked to the closet door. Had the voices woken him up? I was speaking fairly loud. What if he was awake? Listening in? I felt faint. "Mom, I understand. If I feel like I need your help, I'll ask for it." I said, trying to get her to leave. I felt like I wasn't really there, that I wasn't controlling my own body. This couldn't be happening.

"Don't try and drop the subject, honey. Talk to me." She pleaded. I didn't know what to say.

"There's nothing to say, Mom. I don't understand what spurred this conversation at all. Can we just drop this?" I tried to reason with her, but my mom wouldn't let it go at that. She had to embarrass me until she had nothing left to go on.

"Well, your dad and I are worried. I know you have been dating him for a few weeks and things have progressed pretty fast. How serious is your relationship?"

"There's nothing to worry about." I tried to soothe her, anything to get her to leave. "Jasper and I aren't dating. He hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet, and he certainly hasn't asked me anything else more serious. He has a really religious family, and he's mature. Can you please leave, Mom?"

"You know you can come to me for anything, right?" She asked, putting her hand comfortingly on my leg. I shakily nodded my head, understanding that she was my mother and she was just trying to parent me. She was being honest, as awkward as the results where. "Okay, well I'll let you be. Just remember-"

I spoke with her as she finished her statement with "be safe." It seemed like hours until she slowly stood up and left the room with one last look in my direction. I followed her to the door and locked it behind her. I turned around slowly to face the closet door. I didn't want to know if he was awake or not. I didn't want to deal with it, the awkwardness.

I felt my feet slowly dragging me to the door until I was facing directly across from it, afraid to touch the sacred room. Gradually, I reached my hand and sat it on the doorknob, not wanting to turn it; however, I found myself doing so. And then I was pulling the door open. It was only moments until I opened the door all the way and found myself face to face with a blushing red boy

Alice Point of View

"So," I said in a stupor. I actually had no idea what to say. It wasn't like I thought of situations like this. I hadn't planned ahead. What do you say when you come face to face with a situation like this? _Please forget everything you just heard. _Jasper looked down, his face still thoroughly red. "Uh," I continued, still having no thought process with positive results.

"I'm sorry." Jasper mumbled. He was twisting the arm of his sleeve over his cast, still avoiding eye contact.

"You're sorry?" I found myself asking in disbelief. _Was he serious? _"Why are you sorry?"

"I- I should have," He started, fumbling more than I had. His face was still downcast, his eyes hidden. The various conclusions flew through my head, making no sense at all. I couldn't keep quiet.

"You should have what? Not listened in? Not have stayed directly where I told you to be? Or should you have disappeared into another oblivion? Clearly Jasper, you shouldn't have been there, huh?" I found myself ranting in a voice that was almost not my own. Words rolled off my tongue, whether there was any premeditation or not. Jasper's fidgeting increased. "Jasper," I almost yelled, causing him to flinch. I tried not to think about it. "Look at me." I demanded in an uncharacteristically assertive voice.

His eyes hesitantly met mine. They were uncertain, filled with worry. I felt myself sigh, thinking for a moment. "Jasper," I said calmly. "Why did you say you were sorry?"

There was a pause. Jasper looked away, but I stepped into his field of vision. I couldn't pry my eyes off of him. I didn't want to. My gaze remained still as he picked one foot up and twisted it around the other. I waited. He was going to answer.

"Because," He muttered. I didn't interrupt, but that looked like it would have been the desired effect for him. When I didn't say anything, he continued reluctantly. "Because I feel regretful, like I need to say sorry." His words were barely audible.

I took a deep breath. I felt lost for words when I thought about it, so I didn't. I tried to say whatever came to mind first, whatever was most obvious. "Don't. I don't want to hear you say sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Sorry," He mumbled again. A look of regret crossed his face when he realized what he had just done.

"Are you honestly apologizing for apologizing?" I laughed. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" Jasper shrugged, a half grin on his face. He looked close to laughter himself. To be honest, the statement wasn't really that funny. It certainly did not merit the close-to-hyperventilating mirth that followed. The awkwardness that followed as the noise died down was tangible. "So," I muttered again.

Jasper looked hesitant, like he wanted to say something. I tilted my head to the side as if to say, _what? _He opened his mouth hesitantly. "Well, you were saying that, that-"

I cut him off before he could turn events more uncomfortable. "Don't worry, I don't expect you to do any of that. I mean," I felt myself blush. "If you want something like that I don't think that's odd, but I'm not really like that. Obviously I'm a girl, but that doesn't mean," I cut myself off before I could turn events even more uncomfortable.

Jasper ducked his head in embarrassment. "I wasn't going to say that." He said softly. I grimaced. _Great. Nice speech, Alice. _"I was trying to say that," He paused again. I wanted to grasp each shoulder and shake the answers out of him, but I stayed still, thinking through my mom's wonderful discussion. "Remember when we were in that classroom and you said that, you said that you might happen to like me or whatever and," He was muttering and stuttering and bouncing around the point so much I couldn't help but wince. We would have to work on that.

As I was debating the ways in which I could go about that, and while Jasper was ducking his head, it hit me like a brick wall. "When I said I liked you?" I gasped, wondering why Jasper brought that up, but reluctant to repeat what I had said that day.

He nodded his head like he was admitting he had been in the cookie jar. My eyes widened as I thought what he might have been trying to imply. "Are you asking if it still applies?" He nodded again. I took a step closer to him.

"I like you very much." I laughed. Jasper smirked slightly, looking fairly confident for Jasper.

"Yeah," He said. "I was just thinking that it might not be, because of what you said earlier."

"What did I say?" I asked, clearly nonplused. Jasper smiled.

"Nothing in particular."

"Ah," I nodded, wondering where the conversation had went, but glad that it was far from where it had started. Before I had to think of what to say, Jasper's stomach grumbled. "Are you hungry?" I asked eagerly, thinking of something to do. Jasper shook his head quickly.

My eyebrows scrunched unconsciously as I heard the answer. "When did you eat last? You've been here the entire time."

He looked embarrassed again, and I knew that I wouldn't like the answer. "I'm just not hungry." He mumbled. I wouldn't take that as an answer.

"I insist."

"I'm not." He said quietly, trying to emphasis his point in his voice, but I wouldn't take it.

"Would you prefer cabbage cake or tofu?" I asked, chuckling at Jasper's face as I walked out of the room, glad that everything had passed smoothly.

Jasper POV

Alice came back into the room less than five minutes later with two plates full of food, two _full _plates of food. I watched as Alice skipped over to the closet door, outside of which I had posted myself. She carefully set the plates down before lowering herself as well. Once situated, Alice pushed both plates toward me at the same time. "Which one do you want to eat first? I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got you everything I could carry up. You know, I realized that when I was downstairs. I have no idea what you like to eat. What's your favorite food?" She said with a risible smile. She tilted her head to the side to wait for my answer. I found myself in a better mood just watching her. It was only after she gave me a pointed look did I remember I needed to answer.

"My favorite food?" I reiterated, not fully knowing the answer to the question. Alice nodded with her usual eagerness. I thought for a moment trying to come up with a suitable answer until I decided I'd rather shrug impassively. She gave me a pointed look. "What's yours?" I countered.

A look of confusion swept her face until she realized that I had tried to avoid the question. She tried to put forward an angry face, but Alice couldn't compare to anything I had seen before. Still, I didn't want to upset her.

"I like," I began impassively, looking down at the plate in front of me. Leftover macaroni and cheese. "My favorite food is pasta."

"Uh-huh." Alice said, clearly making fun of me. "And why is that?" She must have recognized the fact that it might not be a coincidence that my favorite food was in my hands.

I chuckled at her attempt to sarcasm, but nevertheless responded dutifully. "Because, darling, it's full of deliciousness."

"Is that even a word?" Alice asked, even more elated. I shrugged.

"I assume so." My voice raised into a question at the end of my statement. Alice giggled her tiny laugh. I smiled, glad to have caused it.

"Nice." She said in between breaths. "Are you going to eat that deliciousness?"

"Momentarily," I conceded, looking down to the plate in front of me. I casually grabbed the fork and brought it to my mouth.

"Is it as good as you thought?" She joked, completely oblivious to the joy the meaningless pasta brought to me.

"You have no idea how long it's been since I ate Mac' n' Cheese." I said, exhaling in pleasure. As I said those words, I never thought of her reaction. Alice's face was marred with a frown, trouble clouding her eyes. I groaned inwardly. Touchy subject.

"How long has it been?" She demanded immediately. I was stupid to say something that I knew would upset her. It was my fault she wasn't happy at the moment. I closed my eyes to think of an adequate answer.

"Does it matter?" I whispered, flinching back as I said the soft words. Alice watched with wide eyes.

"I'm not going to hit you because you said what was on your mind."

"That's not what I was thinking. It's not like you can read minds too." I said quickly, instantly regretting the words that flew out of my mouth once again. Alice watched me, emotion playing across her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"No, Jasper. Say what you think. I don't mind." She said, voice steady. It was a contradiction to the pitch of her emotions; I felt more than regret in the pit of my stomach.

"Alice, you know I didn't mean that." I pleaded. Trying to soothe myself as much as I was her. There was a pause. Alice looked to be composing herself before turning to me, looking more put together than she had previously.

When Alice opened her mouth to speak, I could tell what she was going to say was not going to be my favorite. I readied myself for her to tell me _exactly _what she was thinking. However, what she said clearly was not what I was expecting. "I just don't understand."

"I was nervous, I wasn't thinking straight-" I tried to explain, realizing she was still speaking of my previous words. Alice interrupted me with a strong voice.

"No. I don't understand why you deal with it."

"What?" I asked in confusion, not understanding to what she was referring. Alice gave me a small apologetic smile before continuing.

"How can you just sit here like nothing's happening when you're hiding from your family because they're going to kill you?" I instantly knew what she was talking about. I tried not make a face at the over exaggeration she was using.

"They're not going to kill me, Alice." I tried to explain better. "I deserve what they-"

"Why do you always have to protect him?" She growled suddenly. I was taken aback by the ferocity it her voice, the hatred that clouded her face. My own eyes widened.

"I'm not protecting my father from anything." I said slowly, trying to think of what to say, trying to get her to understand. "It's not like," I paused, a mistake.

"Like what?" She demanded.

"You aren't there. You wouldn't know." There wasn't anything I could say. I tried to reason with her, but her determination was hard set. It wasn't like I thought I was wrong and she was right, or vice versa. I just couldn't say, or do, anything. Alice kept her conversation strong, despite my lack of a proper response.

"What did you do the last time you were hit? What did you do that made you deserve the _punishment_?"

"What do you mean?" I asked even if I already knew the answer. I was trying to delay the inevitable. At least the more time I had for thinking up the answer, the better it would be. Alice elaborated nonetheless.

"I mean, what did you do last time? Anytime for that matter?"

I thought through the possibilities of what to say, what I had done. I resolved to just listing them off. "I- I was late to class. I don't always clean my room. I didn't make it down on time for dinner. I say things I shouldn't. I _do _things I shouldn't. Alice, I'm not perfect." I was fumbling by the end of my short speech, but this didn't deter her.

"You shouldn't have to be. You know, I oversleep all the time. Look at this room, it isn't what I would call immaculate. Do you think I should be punished Jasper?" Alice watched me for my answer. She looked a bit calmer, now replaced with a sad curiosity. I was alarmed by her question, immediately demanding explanation.

"What? Why?"

Alice sighed like she was close to frustration. "Do you think my dad should do to me what your dad does to you? Do I deserve it?" I thought of my dad, and Alice. I shuttered.

"Alice, you know that's not what I mean."

She stood up suddenly. "That's exactly what you mean. You're saying you deserve it. I do the same, why don't I deserve it?"

I looked up, like I was looking up to heaven. She really did look like an angel, as cliché as it was. "I'm not like you. I'm not nearly as faultless as you."

"Jasper, I'm not what you make me out to be. I make mistakes the same as you." She said, pacing slightly, looking off to someplace that wasn't there. I listened to her words and knew that she was so wrong.

"No, you don't." I tried to say, thinking of what Alice could do to deserve what my dad did. I couldn't think of anything.

"See? This is what I mean. Can't you just get it? You're amazing, you're- you're like nobody I have ever met." She floundered. I watched, amazed at how she always saw the positive in life, in everything.

"Alice-" I opened my mouth to tell her how wrong she was.

"Tell me the truth. Promise you'll answer truthfully?" She said quietly, having completely stopped moving. I slowly nodded my head, wondering what she was going to ask. "Do you honestly hate yourself?"

I sighed. Again, she didn't understand. There was a pause as I thought of what to say, how to say it. "Alice, I just don't know what to think. I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that I am like that. I- I don't." I paused again. This wasn't what I was trying to say. "Sometimes I don't know what to think." I summarized.

"You know you don't deserve what he does, don't you?" She whispered. I looked down, embarrassed at her words.

"Like I said, I just don't know. I can't get my thoughts straight."

Alice knelt down, so that she was fairly close to me. I lowered my gaze to the floor. I didn't want to see what she thought of me. "Why can't I help you? Why don't you let me?"

This confused me. I looked up to see what she was thinking. Her eyes were wide, waiting for my answer. "What do you mean?"

Alice smiled. "It would take just a phone call. A thirty second report. I could even do it if you would like. Just thirty seconds."

I didn't answer. I thought of what she was saying, what it would be like if I called the police. Well, I don't know what would happen. He could go to jail, so could my mom, maybe. Where would my siblings go? Where would I go? What would happen to Alice? There were so many questions. So many _What Ifs. _"It would change everything. I don't know if I could."

Alice's eyes were shining. She looked hopeful. "You can, and who's to say change is a bad thing?"

"Alice," I wanted to say. I wanted to explain everything to her. I wanted her to see that it wasn't that easy.

"Do it for me." She said quickly. Before I could think, or explain, or even perceive the consequences. I found myself answering her, an answer I never thought I would say.

"Fine."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Alice Point of View

My eyes widened at the answer. It was never that easy, never. My mouth hung open as I waited for Jasper to pull back on his answer, but he just fidgeted as usual. "Fine?" I reiterated.

Jasper shrugged, like it was nothing, still avoiding eye contact. I just sat there for a moment until it sunk it. "Fine?" I said once again, but my tone had change. I could not hold in the impish grin that nearly split my face in two. He said fine, as in, he said yes.

I got up immediately, looking around for my cell phone, in fact, any phone would do. I shoved miscellaneous piles around, rummaging before Jasper could go back on his word. I had just unearthed a piece of clothing I had thought to be missing when I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped, startled. "Yes?" I asked, turning around to face Jasper. He had gotten up and was now standing utterly close to me. I felt the surge of disappointment when I realized that he was probably rethinking things.

"Can we do this tomorrow? After school? I can go back to your house. I mean, if that's okay with you. I-I just have to grab a few things. I don't know if they would let me or not." He said, looking flustered. The smile that had dropped from my face returned, glad to see that Jasper was still okay with this. Everything was going to work out.

"That's fine. We'll do it after school tomorrow. Are you going to go to your house before school?" I said, still chipper. Jasper nodded.

"Yeah, if that's alright. I'll meet you in first period." He mumbled. I reached my hand up and laid it on his shoulder.

"Jasper, it's your life. Obviously I'm happy, but I try not to direct it too much." I laughed, confronting the _ifs _and assurances that always seemed to cluster Jasper's sentences. He nodded slightly in conformation.

I couldn't hold it back any longer. I wrapped both arms around his torso in a hug. I was just so happy. This would mean no more worry, no more pain, no more sadness, or at least a moderation of it. Everything was going to be alright now. Everything.

Jasper tentatively wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and my already pulsating heart beat faster. I felt like I was going to burst with happiness. "This is just so great." I grinned into Jasper's chest. I could almost feel his half-smile rather than actually seeing it.

I felt like dancing, like yelling, like jumping up and down. I didn't know what I felt. The only true description I could think of was _great, _as much as my English teacher would love that adjective. I let go of Jasper and did a small pirouette.

"I'm glad you're happy." Jasper chuckled. I blushed quickly, remembering he was watching. It quickly faded when I realized that I didn't care what he saw me doing. I shouldn't be embarrassed.

"I hope you are too." I said back, looking like a fool.

"I am." He said, still so quiet. I gave him a quick hug and spun again. If he didn't already think I was completely insane, I made sure to emphasis the fact. He chuckled, still looking as sober as ever.

I just felt so amazing. I had made a difference. For once, I cared about something other than myself, and this is where I got. What if I had not been in this situation? What would have happened to Jasper? I was going to change his life. I would always remember him, and he would me. It was just so… so _amazing. _

I was rather proud of myself, feeling like I had made all the difference when I turned to see the clock. I grimaced at the thought of waking up tomorrow when I saw the time, but nevertheless I was not tired. I turned to Jasper, excitement still inwardly churning, but relaxed on the outside. "Are you tired? Want to get ready for bed?" I asked, completely changing the subject. Jasper, too, glanced at the clock and nodded. "What are you going to wear to school tomorrow? What are you going to wear for bed?" I inquired more, skeptically eyeing the jeans and sweatshirt he was adorned in. Jasper smiled.

"I'll be fine, Alice." He said softly. I grinned in response, but did not reply verbally. I walked to the closet and searched for suitable pajamas. I almost chuckled at myself when I went to grab my pink kid's pants. Definite no. Indecision flowed through me as I looked at the options I had. Should I go for the Tinkerbelle nightgown or the Bugs Bunny footie pajamas? _Smooth, Alice._

I sighed, recognizing the fact that Jasper _was _sleeping in jeans. Did it matter? I grabbed a baggy tee-shirt and sweatpants. He didn't care, and they were certainly comfortable. It's not like we were going to do anything, my mom made sure of that. "I'm going to go change and stuff. Are you going to eat anymore?"

Jasper looked down at the plate of food before responding monosyllabically. "Sure." I smiled at his succinct answer before leaving into the adjoining bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I quickly changed clothes and brushed my teeth, trying to get back to Jasper as soon as possible. Bundling the dirty clothes in a ball, I tossed them into the hamper and walked back into the room to see Jasper taking a few bites of the now-cool pasta. "I can go heat that up if you want." I acknowledged.

"No, its fine." Jasper said, giving me a small smile for assurance. I looked skeptically at the plate.

"If you're sure," I said, not wanting to push myself on him too many times today. I set my alarm and pulled back the covers, but not getting in. When I turned back to Jasper, he was giving me a questioning look.

"Where do you want me to put this?" He asked quietly. I barely heard him, but talking to him for so long I was used to it.

"By the door. I'll get it later." I replied, smiling. I was still feeling great, despite the change of subject. Jasper set it down where I told him and walked back over to the cot, sitting down on the very edge. "Feel free to get comfortable. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." I told him. After he looked semi-content, I switched off the lights and clamored into my own bed. It was silent for a minute before I heard Jasper's deep voice.

"Night, Alice."

I felt myself grin as I responded to him "Night, Jasper."

I rolled over and tried to get to sleep, but it danced away from me. I had lied to Jasper, saying I was tired. The truth was that I wasn't even close to exhausted. Adrenaline pumped through my veins excessively. My mind was running a mile a minute and I couldn't stop tapping my fingers against the covers. Definitely not tired.

My day felt so complete, even if I had skipped school. Who knew doing something bad could result in something so good? Note to self: Skip school more often. This morning felt like a disaster, but it also felt distant. I could hardly even remember the fight, or the park. The huge event that had passed clouded all else.

It was a while until I heard Jasper's breathing even out, even longer until I began to feel sleepy at all. But, when it came, it came fast and I felt myself drift off. First my toes, then my legs, my arms, and then my eyes fell heavy, and I was no longer aware of the conscious world.

_A boy and a girl. The girl was laughing, the boy was smiling. They were outside. They were in a park. Sitting on swing, they talked. It was too distant to make sense of the girl's verbose sentences, and even farther to hear the boy's response. More laughter. He said something funny. He chuckled. _

_The sun shined. There was another group coming to the girl and boy. Four people. One girl said something, laughter. A boy flexed his muscles, then patted the swinging boy's back. The first girl stood up, hands on hips. They all laughed. There was a breeze. _

_The scene was at a picnic bench. Another girl pulled out a basket. Eating. Laughing. Playing. More laughter. The sun was shining. The boy laughed. He kissed the girl._

I gasped, shooting up from my slumber_. _Unlike usual, I didn't feel sick. I felt content. Actually, I felt better than content as I thought of that particular vision. I smiled to myself in the dark, replaying the dream in my head. I recognized that girl, and that boy. I recognized them all and could not help but wonder if the vision was a result of the monumental decision today. That was the perfect thing to see. All I had to now was wait for it to happen.

It was because I was in such happy thought that I did not hear the labored breathing for several moments. Looking around it the dark, it took me a few seconds to realized from where and from who they were coming from. "Jasper?" I whispered.

No reply. I stood up warily and walked over to my closet, maneuvering around the bed and dresser. "Jasper?" I asked again when I was closer. I could hear him louder. All thoughts of the happy dream vanished when I made out a soft whimper from Jasper's direction. Without knowing why, I felt the compulsion to call out again. "Jasper?"

He looked distraught, writhing on the cot, but not falling off. He was obviously lost in dreamland or whatever it was called. I reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. He darted up, just like I had, but for other reasons. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He still didn't respond, his breathing did not slow, and he just stared blankly off into space. I hesitantly kept my hand on his shoulder. He paid no attention to the touch, unusual for him. "Jasper?" I asked for the fourth time. "Hello?" I felt ridiculous and out of place until his muscles relaxed under my touch.

"Sorry," He said, his voice still thick from sleep.

"Sorry?" I repeated. "Are you okay?"

Jasper cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah, sorry for waking you."

"Oh," I said slowly. "Its okay, I woke up on my own anyways. Bad dream?" I inquired, wondering if he wanted to talk about it. Jasper didn't seem like he was completely there. He just shook his head slowly.

I gave him an encouraging smile, even if he could not see it and walked back to my bed. "Okay. Well, goodnight." I said, giving the clock a glance and shuttering at the late time. I laid down in bed, but sleep was too far away once again.

This time, I could hear that Jasper had not fallen asleep. When fifteen minutes passed, I rolled over with a sigh.

"I don't usually have bad dreams." Jasper said slowly. I was surprised to hear him talk, but I did not interrupt. "Only every once in a while. Actually, after meeting you they are a lot less frequent. Just tonight." He drifted off, his tone softer.

"What was it about?" I said just as quietly back.

"My dad." He said, and that needed no further explanation. He did, however, provide one. "They're not really dreams, more like memories from when I was younger."

"What was this one about?" I found myself asking, even if I was not certain I wanted to know the answer.

I heard Jasper shutter from across the room. "One time Josh said God's name in vain. He was just repeating what somebody said, but Dad didn't care. It was terrible." Jasper made a choking sound. He was crying. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to think about it.

"Come here." I said before thinking of what he could infer from my command. I knew he wouldn't take it that way, but I should have been more careful. I heard Jasper's shuffling step across the room, coming this way. "There's room for two." I patted the bed next to me. Jasper hesitantly lay down next to me. We were not touching, but I could feel the vibrations from his sobbing. I didn't say anything, it didn't seem right. He didn't say anything either.

After only a few minutes, Jasper's shaking died down, and after even longer, I could tell he was asleep. That left me awake. Before I fell asleep, I gave one last look at the clock, and sighed at the time. Late. I drifted off to sleep feeling the energy bouncing between me and Jasper as he slept. Despite the time and the situation, I fell asleep happy.

Before you wake, do you know that feeling of complete content? It's where you just feel _good. _You feel like you could take on the world without even having to lift a finger. You don't know where you are or who your with, your conscious mind isn't that alert. At that time, it doesn't matter. Even if you have to be up in ten minutes, or in actuality it's freezing outside, you feel safe and warm. The feeling of total bliss.

Well, before I came to awareness, I experienced better than that. I knew exactly where I was, and that made it all the better. I snuggled further into the covers and rolled over to get closer to the warmth next to me. I wasn't thinking, just feeling.

I finally did wake up in a calm serenity. Rather than stressing over the time, or even thinking about my day, I just sat in bed- eyes closed- and reveled in the euphoria that had swept over me.

Of course, all good things come to an end when my alarm clock came blaring to life next to my head. I groaned, not wanting to look over at the possessed object. After blindly jabbing my hand in the direction of the sound, the dreadful thing was silenced. Rolling over again, I tried to find that same feeling.

"Alice?" My name was whispered. I groaned again, not completely willing to lose this moment. For a second, the voice was silenced as well, but only for a second. "Alice?"

By this time, I was slightly more aware. I open my eyes to glare at my mother when I realized it was not my mother. Embarrassed, I rid my expression of the menace and gave a loopy half-smile in the direction of the sandy-haired boy. "Are you awake?" He asked quietly.

I wrinkled my nose at the question. I did not want to be awake. I shook my head and stuffed it under the nearest pillow. I heard Jasper's soft chuckle. "Your alarm clock went off." He said, amusement in his voice.

I scoffed at the suggestion that I might not have heard the hopeless excuse for technology. Instead of giving a comprehendible response, I groaned once again. "Alice," He said, nudging my shoulder. I glared into the pillow. Couldn't I just go back to sleep? It was beckoning me into its depths, but the poking on my back was an anchor into this world.

I flipped onto my back and showed my face to humanity, flinching at the bright light. Not really awake, I leaned forward blindly. "I'm up." I yawned, yearning to fall back down into the cottony clouds that made my bed.

"Sort of." Jasper laughed. I glared, finally beginning to process the simplest of things. He was standing at the end of the bed, having must have taken a step back when I attempted to become vertical. I made a face at his comment.

"Sort of." After stretching my arms and legs, then clearing my mind again, I reached my arms forward. "Help me up." I commanded of him with a smile. Jasper took a step forward and swung me gently into a standing position. I just wanted to get back in bed, but rather than doing so, I stretched again.

"Please don't tell me you're a morning person." I laughed, taking in his clear eyes and small smile. The only indicator that he, too, just got out of bed was his hair, which managed to stick out in every direction.

"I'm going to head over to my house." He acknowledged rather than answering the question. "Are your parents home still?"

I shook my head mutely before my sleep-hazed mind could think of a response. "They left for work. It's just me and you." I closed my eyes while speaking, hardly having the energy to keep them open. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" I mumbled.

Jasper smirked and nodded his head. "I'll be fine. What time do you have to be ready for school?"

It took me a second to think of a response. "Bella," I said. At Jasper's inquisitive look, I remembered to elaborate. "She picks me up at seven or so."

"You still have a bit of time, if you wake up that is." He said, poking fun of me. I yawned.

"Lucky me." I fell backwards onto the bed, and did not move. The pillows were perfectly comfortable, still warm from the body heat. It was just so irresistible.

"I'm going to leave then." Jasper said, waiting for my response. My eyes had hazed over and when I did not give one, he ruffled my hair and left the room.

I was barely aware of the fact that my best friend had left me. I was hardly aware of much at all. If I had been more awake, I would have given a proper goodbye, or at least a good luck. By the time I realized I had been so rude, Jasper was long gone. I wasn't thinking about anything along those lines at the moment. In fact, it was less than two minutes after Jasper had departed when I, too, departed this realm and drifted into another, equally blissful.

Jasper POV

I smirked to myself thinking of the plethora of looks Alice had given to me this morning, ranging from an angry stare to a sleepy smile. Her moods, her attitudes, were a range of colors from yellow, to blue, to red. They had brought the smile to my face, lightening my own color, as I pulled my sweatshirt closer to my body.

It was misting, but in Forks, when does it not? The weather was unforgiving, a revisit from last winter. There was a strong wind with an icy undertone, but not quite cold enough to make the unpleasant rain into the slightly more appealing snow flurries. My backpack was sore on my shoulders, and with my bruises I was sure I looked like a hitchhiker walking down the road. The dopey smile on my face- thinking of Alice- did not help with the image.

It was hard _not_ to smile. Even if I was walking to my own death, I knew the swelling of friendship, of happiness, of hope that arose in my stomach was uncontrollable. So even now, heading into the unknown future, I had a goofy expression on my face and a warmth resonating from within.

I tried not to think of what was to happen. It did not prove exceptionally difficult when I found mind my mind drifting off in other directions. It seemed that Alice had always not been the cure, but a distraction enough to forget this all. Now however, I didn't know what she was. She was more than a measly, albeit pleasant, distraction. She was the answer.

I felt slightly guilty thinking of her in that way. It was not like that was _all _I thought her as. But getting that idea out of my mind was difficult when she insisted on bringing it up at every second possible. Alice was more to me than this, but she tried to put her agenda before everything else.

The way she brought up my problems often would have been annoying in any other person, but not with Alice. Edward had tried, but I had snapped. I also wasn't proud of that moment. I had hurt not only him, but Alice as well.

I chuckled into the wind thinking of my obsession with the tiny being. Almost every thought of mine ended up with Alice on the mind. It was hard not to do so. She had swept into my life and changed everything. Look what she was having me do now. Nobody I know has ever convinced me to do anything of this magnitude. In fact, I had never even trusted somebody enough for them to know about this situation, they never had the chance.

Nobody but Alice. I had no idea what made me want to talk to her, what made me want to be with her. Something about the girl just made me want more, always. She was addicting, like some kind of hard-core drug. You just had to have more, and you couldn't even figure out why.

The misting increased to a heavy rain. For a second I looked down to my cast and wondered how long that could withstand this rain, but I decided it didn't really matter. It was probably somewhat waterproof, and that was all I needed. I cringed as the rain hit my face though, that was something that was certainly did not approve of, not that I had a say in the weather. I looked up to the sky to see dark gray clouds. I shivered, pulling my sweatshirt even closer than I had before. My hood was already up, but because the cloth was soaked through, my actions did not help as much as I would like them too.

I was lucky; however, because in a manor of minutes after the increased precipitation, I turned onto my street. I felt the sweep of familiarity that did not always seem as welcoming as it should, but I kept my feet walking at the same rate as before.

It was only two houses up, and for a second I wish I had forgotten the directions to this place. I had only a few things I wanted to grab. But that was not the reason I had came.

I needed to make sure Josh was safe before I left to have Alice call. Maybe I could get him to go over to a friend's house, or better yet, get Amanda to be late picking him up from school. That way, both of them would be out. I thought of my twin brother's safety for a second, but quickly realized that my dad would never do anything to them, ever. Amanda was fairly safe as well, and Josh too.

I laughed again, not intentionally, but rather loudly. Really, I didn't have to worry about my siblings. They were all safe unless they did something incredibly, incredibly, stupid. And in our house, you learn early never to do something along those lines, never.

The half-crazed smile on my face died down as I got to the driveway of my house. I could never return. That would be the smart thing to do, the safe thing to do. But I didn't want to. Like a lost puppy, I found myself drawn back to my home. Whether or not it was the intelligent thing to do, I took a step forward and entered the house, a strange calm drifting over all emotions.

Alice Point of View

"Sorry, Bella." I said, jumping into the truck in a rush. My whole morning had been a rush. Note to self: never go back to sleep again. It was not a smart idea.

"Its okay," Bella laughed. "Why are you so late?"

I opened my mouth to explain. It was a long story, but one that I was sure Bella would appreciate. "Jasper spent the night last night." I smiled.

Bella's jaw hung open. With widened eyes, she stared blankly before her mind kicked into gear. "So did you… and he?" She said hesitantly, disbelievingly.

"No!" I shouted, forgetting that was one of the things I could have implied. It seemed like everything went back to _that. _I blushed, but not nearly as brightly as Bella, who also recognized her false assumption. "He spent the night because his dad was really mad at him." I whispered more softly, thinking to what the implications of that could have been. But we didn't have to worry; this would all be over soon. Thinking of that moment, I decided to kick-start the story at a faster pace, without interruptions.

"So I offered for him to stay the night. We got talking about things. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you know, that junk. And guess what?" I turned, facing Bella. She would have too, but seeing as the fact she was driving, that proved impossible. Instead, I got a verbal response.

"What did you say, Alice?" Bella said, exasperated. I could tell she was joking by the exaggeration in her tone, and continued on without a second thought.

"He said he would call the cops!" I exclaimed, excitement fluttering through me as I said those words. Bella looked shocked, glancing me a look.

"He really said that?" She asked, disbelief clouding her face. This did not deter me too much, but I had to question her response. I tilted my head to the side to indicate that I had no idea why she asked that. "Well," She started hesitantly. "It's just with that argument yesterday. It seems like every time you try to get anything out of Jasper." She stopped hesitantly. I continued on for her.

"You're surprised he told me that, along with everything else?" I asked in question. Bella nodded gratefully.

"You must be really important to him, Alice. Jasper and Edward had been friends for a really long time, and he never said a thing. And then, you come along and in less than a couple weeks you got him to agree to call the police. That's very, it's very…" She looked lost for words. "Wow." She finished off a second later.

I thought of what Bella was saying, and I recognized that it was probably true. But Jasper was very important to me, and the feeling was only reciprocated. Rather than trying to explain my feelings to her, I answered simply. "I'm just glad that I could do this for him." Which was also the truth.

Bella nodded thoughtfully, as she always did. I didn't speak so as to not break her chain of thought. She spoke again after only a second. "So where is Jasper now?" Bella asked.

"He wanted to grab something from his house before everything. He wasn't sure if he would be allowed back." I said happily, glad to have a question that required less thought. I rummaged through my backpack as we drove. I came upon what I was looking for, a brush, and flipped open the mirror.

"Gosh, Bella." I said in mock disappointment. "Couldn't you have warned me that I look like a wanna-be punk?" I laughed, brushing through my messed up hair. I hadn't even put on any make-up this morning. It was a very discombobulated look.

Bella laughed at my word choice, but the trip was silent the rest of the way to school. I was trying to fix the look I had going, and Bella was driving through the rain. It was pouring. When we finally got to the school, we both hopped out and pulled up our hoods.

One thing that I had learned in Forks is to _always _where a hood. Even if it didn't look like rain, it was going to rain. Despite the downpour, Bella and I slowly walked to our first period class. I was glad I had not made Bella late to class, but we were cutting in close.

As I walked into class and took a seat at my usual table, it took me a full minute to recognize the fact that Jasper was not there yet. I rolled my eyes and remembered the time we all went to Edward's. He was a full thirty minutes late because he lost track of time. I was calm at first, but when the bell rung to signify that class had started, I got slightly worried.

Rather than paying attention to the teacher lecture us on some historical point in history, I stared at the door, willing it to open. Jasper could just be really late. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Jasper would have had to have walked from my house to his, which is in the opposite direction of the school. Then he would have had to do whatever he had to do there. After that, the walk to school was not easy. Plus this rain? He was probably just really late. It made complete sense. I wouldn't be able to do it before school.

I had fully calmed my worry down when the bell rang again. It was the end of the period. My worried sparked again. He missed the entire first period. As I walked to my next class in a daze, Bella and Edward stopped me.

"Hey Alice!" Edward waved with a slightly louder voice. Startled out of my reverie, I walk towards them.

"You guys haven't seen Jasper yet, have you?" I asked hopefully, knowing they hadn't. Bella gave me a concerned look. "It's just, I didn't see him in first period, and he usually shows. He must be late." I convinced myself, not really thinking about the fact that I _was _talking to somebody.

"You don't think that Jasper could have-" Edward started, and I could see that he was continuing, I just couldn't hear him. What I heard had nothing to do with Edward at all.

"_Dad," A voice whispered. I recognized that voice. "Please, don't" It begged, pain laced into the tone. _

Bella and Edward were watching me with concerned looks on their faces, but I wasn't paying attention to them. I was staring blankly ahead, trying to hear that voice, begging it was my imagination.

"_Please," The voice whispered again._

"Please," I found myself whispering in sync. Edward had put a hand on my shoulder, but I did not feel it. He was saying something, but my vision, as well as my strength, left at that.

"_Dad," I whispered, laying on the floor. He was above me. He was strong. "Don't," I tried to say. It didn't come out right. My tongue was too big to talk around._

"_Don't?" He said with a snide look on his face. "Don't?" He repeated, his breathing was fast and hard. He was shaking in something. Anger? Hate? Repulsion?_

_Pain. There was pain as I felt myself being raised up. Blood. I smelt blood. Falling. "Dad," I whispered, pleading._

"_Now you beg." He growled. "And not for forgiveness? You better pray, boy." There was a crunch. He was holding something metal. I tried to crawl away. I couldn't. More pain. My leg wouldn't move. It was burning. _

"_No," I said, telling him to stop._

"_No?" The man said, mad. "No? You won't pray? Then you deserve hell." _

_And there it was. Pain, vision fading. I couldn't breath. No oxygen. Warm, in my mouth, dripping. I tried to leave, to forget. I didn't. I heard his voice. Laughing. I tried to escape. I couldn't. _

_Alice. I thought. Help. I need help. And then I felt nothing. No pain, nothing. Warm. Alice._

"Alice?" I heard again. I heard coughing, loud coughing. I was on the floor, and I felt somebody touching my shoulder. "Somebody call an ambulance!" Somebody yelled. _Good_. I thought. I needed help. There was the man. He was there. I rolled away from the hand. "Alice?" The voice asked again.

I could see again, but I didn't see him anywhere, I didn't see those same walls. I saw Edward, hovering over me. Bella was just a step away. "Call an ambulance." I said, my voice harsh.

"We did. They'll be here in a minute, Alice. Calm down. You had a seizure." Edward said, right there. Everything hurt. My muscles ached. I closed my eyes, darkness rising up. They didn't understand. I looked to Bella.

"Call an ambulance. He's dying. Call an ambulance. Jasper's dying." I said, trying to speak. My own voice felt far away, and I couldn't see Bella's response. I felt the darkness begin to overwhelm me. "Call an ambulance. Jasper's dying. He's dying." I said again before the darkness swept over me, and I didn't feel anything at all.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

_Moving shapes, blurred colors. I could see shapes above me, they we touching me. My numb body__ regained its feeling with their prodding. I rolled my head side to side. I wanted to tell them stop. I wanted to tell them I was happy before they came._

_One was gripping my shoulder. Stop. I wanted him to let go. He wouldn't. Someone touched my face, bright light. I just wanted them all to leave. Someone covered my mouth, I tried to struggle, but the hand on my shoulder wouldn't release me. Then I felt a weariness seep over me within a matter of seconds, and I didn't really care what they did to me as I fell asleep. _

My vision blurred, and for a second I was me again until I was plunged into another vision.

_There was a girl. She had red gold hair and blue eyes. She was young, but pretty. However, her features were marred with the red splotches on her face. She had been__ crying. She was in a room. A hospital room. The bed was empty, but it was ruffled. Some one had been in it recently. The girl fell onto the bed, she curled into a ball. She was shaking. She was crying._

_She wasn't alone anymore. A little boy walked slowly into the room. He was saying something, confusion on his face. The girl looked better for a minute. Then she looked sad. The boy sat next to her. He smiled. The girl did not like his words. They were sad. She cried harder. She was sad._

I could see the girl start to sit up, start to say something. But, at the same time, I saw a ceiling above me, blurring the vision even more until it faded out of existence. My entire body was aching as I sat there, unmoving. Where was I?

I didn't feeling like sitting up, hell no. I didn't even want to turn my head to the side, but knowing that doing so would give me answers, I let my head tilt so I was looking to the right of me.

It was apparent that I was in a hospital room. Where else would you see the distinctive beds and plethora of machines? As I came more and more into awareness and allowed the confusion to slip away, I could even smell the tell-tale hint of antiseptic in the air. Yeah, I was in a hospital room.

My memories were hazy as I tried to remember what had happened. I remembered waking up this morning, getting in the car with Bella. I remembered a lot, but I did not think of any reason that I could be here.

That is, until I saw Edward slip into the room. Maybe it was the way in which he did so, tentative and unsure. Maybe it was just because he looked sad, pained, or maybe it was just because he was of the opposite gender. Whatever the reason, when I saw Edward, my memories came tumbling to the fore-front on my mind. My visions were as clear as day.

"Where's Jasper?" I asked in a scratchy voice, thinking of what my vision implied. A sick feeling bubbled up in my stomach at that thought and I felt slightly nauseas. I didn't want to contemplate the _what-ifs_ as I watched Edward for his response with hawk-like intensity.

Edward looked surprised that I was talking, or at least a genuine hint of alarm passed his face. He opened his mouth, speechless. "How- how are you feeling?" He asked slowly, as if I had suddenly lost all ability to think for my own.

"What am I doing here?" I said, rather than responding. It briefly crossed my mind that I was not answering his questions, and nor was he answering mine. I just had so many crowding my head. I just wanted answers.

"You're in the hospital, Alice." Edward answered, approaching me as one would to a wounded animal. "Do you remember what happened?"

I once again riffled through my memories. I had been at school, but I could not think of what had happened there. Everything was shadowed by the vision. "Where's Jasper?" I asked again.

Edward looked down, ashamed. I could not read minds, and therefore his actions where confusing, but I waited. He had to answer my questions. "Is he-" I started slowly, not wanting to think of what I was asking, the possibility that it was true. "Is he not alive?" I asked. I couldn't say the word.

Edward shook his head quickly, and he began to talk immediately. He was too rushed to be in character, but I hardly took notice. "I don't understand what happened, Alice. One second you're fine, the next you are on the floor. And when you came around," He paused, as if trying to make sense of the situation. "You were talking about Jasper. And Bella," He hesitated again. "She called the police. That's what you told her to do. I thought you were just being irrational, but Jasper did need help. It was like you knew, Alice." There was an even longer pause, I did not speak. "Did you?"

I had known Edward for the same period of time as Bella. I had known him since I had known Jasper. And that might have been the reason I did not hesitate in my response. Call me naïve, call me stupid, but I felt that I could tell my friends. I could tell them anything. "I was having a vision." I tried to sound confident. Edward looked at me.

"As in, you saw something?" He said, wrapping his mind around it slowly. I nodded in response.

"I saw Jasper at his house, he was getting hurt. Is he okay?" I asked quietly, trying to get an answer from him. Edward looked dumbfounded, but he shook off that expression in a matter of moments.

"They don't know." He said in all seriousness. "He was pretty bad when they got there, so my dad tells me." Edward obtained this faraway look as he continued. "He wasn't breathing. And we were in the hallway, when they rolled him in, I mean. There were tons of people, and they were shouting things, things that made it sound like he was a goner. We waited for what seemed like hours. At the time, we didn't know how you were doing either. Everyone was here, your parents, my parents, Rosalie, Emmett, everyone. It was a couple of hours ago. They said you were fine. They just needed to keep you for overnight observation. As for Jasper, he was in surgery last I heard. I don't know, Alice."

I stared at Edward, not ready to open my mouth. I thought back to the visions I had before I woke up. "He was so scared." I mumbled, looking down. Edward walked forward, sitting on the chair next to my bed. "He just wanted everything to end. And his sister, she was crying. Edward, I just want Jasper to be safe."

I couldn't stop the tears that built up in my eyes. They streaked down my face as I sobbed. Edward leaned forward and wrapped a comforting arm around my shaking shoulders. I cried harder, hoping -wishing- it was Jasper's arm around me. I thought of how everything played out, how life just seemed so complicated. I just cried harder.

"Alice, your parents are going to be here soon. They just went to get some coffee. You have been asleep so long." Edward whispered, holding me. He reminded me of a big brother, but I did not allow that fact to deter my tears.

"Do you think it's my fault?" I asked into his shoulder, shaking from the physical pain that started in my chest and echoed out. It felt like someone had broke my body and tried to put it together. But I just felt like Humpty Dumpty, they couldn't do it right.

Edward might have responded. I didn't hear him do so, though it was a definite possibility. I was too focused on myself at the moment. I was focused on the fact that everything was wrong. Everything did not go my way. It sounded spoiled, but as my muscles ached with each sob and I thought of the reason why I was here, I felt that I had the right to say so. That was not even mentioning the fact that somebody else was in the hospital as well, and it may or may not be my fault.

"Edward," I whispered, trying to get his attention. This time, I tried to remain in the present long enough to pay attention.

"Yes?" He asked, his voice calm and smooth. It sounded like he wasn't in his position at all, but completely relaxed.

"Go find out about him. Now." I commanded a weak voice. I needed to hear more about Jasper. Without asking who I was talking about or even questioning the fact that less than five minutes ago I revealed to him that I could see the future, Edward stood up and went to do what I had asked of him. He was a good friend.

It was a good hour or so before I could move without some sort of muscle spasm. A solid fifteen minutes before my parents came into the room and it took at least half an hour until they stopped fussing. As for my worrying? Yeah, that hadn't stopped.

I glanced at my father's watch once again. As soon as he had walked in the room, I had obtained it. I was now watching the minutes with a calm and rational mind. There was even a second hand on the watch. I followed it with my eyes as the small red hand circumnavigated the twelve numbers every sixty seconds. It had been an hour and twenty minutes total since I had kicked Edward out of the room, and he was still not back. Make that one hour and twenty one minutes.

"Mom?" I asked softly. My voice was as quiet as Jasper's always was, but I didn't know if his ever sounded this desperate. She glanced up from the news magazine she was reading.

"Yes, Alice?" She asked back in a tired voice. She knew what I was going to ask, just as I knew she didn't know the answer. I just had to ask again.

"When is Edward going to be here?" I needed him to get here soon. I was sick of being stuck in this bed waiting like a damsel in distress for a hero. I needed news. And I was not getting it, but I couldn't go anywhere. If my mom had not been staying vigilant at my side, I might have been able to sneak out. However, that was the case and I was stuck. I felt useless.

I had to keep my mind away from anything as I waited. I could not think about the specifics of Jasper or the tears that I had managed to keep down would ravage again. I tried to focus on the fact that Edward was to come here any minute now. Honestly, how long does it take you to get news on somebody's health? Surely not this long. I sighed out of nervous frustration.

"How are you feeling, honey?" My mom asked, stroking my brow with a nervous expression on her face. She must have taken the sigh as something else. My mom _did _have the tendency to see things out of nothing.

"Mom, I just want to know how Jasper is doing." I said quietly, looking down. I didn't think it was too much to ask for. I felt the tears building up and I tried to wipe them away before my mom saw. Lucky for me, my mother was paying apt attention to me.

"I know, Alice. I'm sure he is doing okay." I thought back to my visions. I was shaking again.

"No, Mom, you don't know." I mumbled, not letting her pull me into a hug. She rested her hand on my shoulder but I flinched away. They did the same thing to Jasper. "Please," I said through the tears. "Can you just figure out if he's okay? Or at least find somebody who does know?"

I knew I was making a fool out of myself, but I didn't care. The sadness was an unstoppable force. It was not to be reckoned with. It pulsed through me along side my blood and slowly spread to all of my extremities. But it was not like blood.

Blood was warm and gave life to things. But this, this _feeling _was not warm. I felt sick, and I knew it was not from my episode earlier today. I brought my knees to my chin to keep the cold away, to keep the feeling away. I pleaded to my mom, not in words, but in silence.

Her face went from full of pity to anguish in a matter of seconds. According to the watch, it was exactly eight. She stood up and patted my shoulder. "I'm going out to find somebody right now. Will you be okay by yourself?"

The look I gave her was answer enough. It conveyed that the price of knowledge far outweighed the fact I was going to be by myself for a couple minutes. My mom nodded and kissed the top of my head. I hardly felt it. Crying was taking up so much energy. My mom left the room.

I knew I had to stop this. The tears were not helping anything. With a few sniffles, I turned my attention onto the watch with full force. It had been twenty three seconds since she had left. _There and sixty seconds in a minute. So the fraction would by twenty three over sixty. If there are sixty minutes in an hour, the fraction would be twenty three over three thousand, six hundred. There are twenty four hours in a day, so it would be twenty three over, _I thought for a second, unable to do the multiplication in my head. Looking at my watch, the simple math had occupied almost a full minute. The crying had stopped momentarily, but the sadness had only been pushed away, not banished.

It seemed like hours before somebody entered the room, but it was only sixteen minutes and forty-two seconds. I didn't look up when the person came in. I assumed it to be my mom. She would stand there for a couple minutes telling me how everything would be okay and how Jasper is doing great.

"He isn't doing to well, Alice" Said the distinctively not-my-mom voice. I looked up just in time to see Rosalie sweep me into a hug. "But all we can do is wait for him. I'm glad to see you are okay. You're feeling better?" She said softly, pulling away, but still holding each shoulder as if to get a good look at me.

"You certainly look better." Emmett said from somewhere else in the room. I jumped at the sound of his loud voice. Everyone else seemed to be whispering softly within the hospital walls, but the word _softly_ had never been used to describe Emmett.

He stepped forward and gave me a hug the second Rosalie had let go. I felt my tears building up once more. Whether it was because of their words or their actions, I did not know.

"Don't cry, Alice." Rosalie said, sitting on the edge of my bed. "He is going to be okay. Jasper is nothing if not stubborn." She smiled, despite the fact that tears were accumulating in her own eyes. I gave my own weak smile, but I knew it was not believable. "Are you feeling better?" She asked once again.

I gave a feeble nod, not understanding why I had to cry the second they walked in. I hardly trusted my own voice. "I'm fine," was all I could muster.

"Well," Emmett laughed. "You certainly had Bella and Edward, alongwith the rest of the school, fawning over you. You're the talk of the town. You had your eyes rolled back, muscles shaking. Supposedly you looked pretty possessed." He said this all with a smile and a joking tone, but I could tell by his expression that he was worried.

In fact, they both looked worried, even now. From the bags under their eyes to the slightly hung-over stances, it was apparent. Rosalie, who always looked perfected, had mousy hair and smudged make-up. It was so unlike her, but you could hardly tell the difference. She was confident as she sat next to me, as always. It was like she knew everything was going to be okay. Both Emmett's and Rosalie's confidence felt nice to be around, I motioned for Emmett to sit blindly, my motions even more drawn out than typical.

"Oh shut up, Emmett." Rosalie glared at Emmett. "You are ruining the moment." She scoffed, then looked at me with a stage whisper. "Guys just don't understand us."

"Will they ever?" I tried to laugh, just to play along. It didn't come out right. My voice was already thick with tears. If Emmett and Rosalie could tell, they didn't say anything.

"But you are feeling okay?" Rosalie asked very seriously. She didn't want to hear _I'm fine_, she wanted to hear the truth. I thought through my answers, but I couldn't verbalize any of them. I nodded softly, but I was edging hysterical.

I couldn't breathe, the sobs overtook everything. I wasn't so much crying as I was just freaking out. I felt like I couldn't talk, like my throat was closing in. I shut my eyes. If I did so, I didn't have to be in a hospital. I was in my bedroom. There were pillows around me, and the arm around my shoulders was not Rosalie's, it was Jasper's. It was even his right arm. He didn't have a cast anymore. But it didn't last, you always have to open your eyes.

"Alice," I heard a deep voice whisper. I knew who it was because it certainly wasn't Rosalie. I didn't respond though, my currant condition would not allow me. "Alice, breathe." He said slowly. I dumbly gasped in and out, making choking sounds, but that was all I could do. "He will be okay. He's even on this floor."

This made me pause; I looked at Emmett as if to ask if he was being serious. He nodded in response to my unspoken question. I gasped softer this time, shaking, but not as hard. "You think I could see him?" The voice in which I had spoken with did not sound like my own. The tone was off, it rose too high, and it sounded sick, like the owner had a cold. I would not have thought it was me if I hadn't known it was.

Emmett looked down. It seemed like he was going to say something, but Rosalie beat him to it. "I'm sure you can talk to your doctor, I don't see why not."

"You think?" I asked, my cries having mellowed out, not to the point where I was calm, but just to a slight hiccup.

"Yeah," Emmett said in his typical loud voice. "If your heart stops beating, there will be plenty of doctors in the ICU."

I started to laugh, thinking what Emmett had said was funny. I thought it was, until I really thought about it. "He's in the ICU?" My voice cracked.

"Emmett!" Rosalie hissed under his breath, giving Emmet a look that could kill. Emmett himself looked surprised at my reaction, wondering how I did not already know where Jasper was. I couldn't stop myself. "Apologize." She demanded under her breath. I could tell she didn't want me to hear, but I was closer to her than Emmett and it was inevitable.

"You don't need to apologize." I barely managed to say, addressing what Rose had hissed in Emmett's direction. "I just want to see him,"

"Don't worry, Alice" Emmett said in a grave voice. "You will, soon." And I knew I would, just because Emmett told me so.

I wanted to say something to Rosalie. I felt obliged to say _something. _After Emmett had left, it was Rosalie who sat next to me watching some stupid show on the television when she could have been with him. It was Rosalie who thought I would rather not be alone. I felt like I should at least entertain her, but I was speechless. Every time I opened my mouth to speak, more tears would come.

It was stupid to cry so much. I didn't even know what was happening. For all I knew, Jasper was in the room next door, twiddling his thumbs. I just had this bad feeling in my gut. Something was not right. I sniffled, thinking about what I was implying.

What would I do if this is the end? I shut my eyes. This isn't the end. What I saw was not a definitive. That vision of the girl meant nothing. It did not indicate that Jasper is- well, that he was not okay. It just showed a crying friend. She could have just broken up with her boyfriend, or maybe their dog died. What I saw told me nothing, and I just needed to forget about it.

"Darling, I love you with all of my heart. I don't care that you are a zombie. I still love you." A voice said. I opened my eyes, momentarily distracted from my thoughts. The voice had come from the television. I turned away, guilty at having stopped worrying.

"Can this be any more crap?" Rosalie asked from the chair next to my bed, angrily searching for the remote. I looked forlornly at my limp hand, still enclosing the remote from when the silence had become too much. I handed it off to Rosalie without a word. She flipped the channel. "Really, why would anyone want to date a zombie? What's next, vampires?" She chuckled, looking to me for a reaction. I tried to smile.

"Well, honestly. Would you like to hug something that is cold and dead?" She laughed, trying to be funny. The image that came to mind was definitely not humorous. If Jasper was not okay, then what would happen? I felt my eyes prick and heart sink at the thought of Jasper, cold and dead lying on the examiner's table. I felt my face contort without my consent.

"What's going to happen?" I asked Rosalie as clearly as my throat would allow. "When is Emmett going to get here? Or Edward? Or my mom? When am I going to know?" I was crying even harder now, and I didn't even try to stop. Nobody was helping me. They all said they would, but they had vanished into thin air.

"No, Alice." Rosalie interrupted. "You do not have to sit here like this. Let's go." She was hard and determined. I looked up, but before I could process she was handing me clothes. I slid them on wordlessly, not taking in account that they were clearly not mine. I did not even ask why she had a bag full of clothes with her. When she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the hospital room, I did not question her.

It was when I was standing upright that I recognized why I had not been released immediately. A headache sprung up immediately and I was somewhat dizzy. My feat stumbled while I walked, but I paid no attention to the fact. I knew where Rosalie was taking me. She was taking me to Jasper, maybe not directly, but she was going to.

"Esme and Edward and them are waiting in this room down the hall, but let's go directly to the source." Rosalie said, giving me a devilish smile. Rosalie looked like some actress playing in a movie. Her lines were scripted and she knew just how to act when she stopped and peered around a corner. I felt my lips pull into a smirk.

"And who might that be?" I said. Although my voice still sounded weird to my own ears, I could talk clearly again. Rosalie's smile widened into a grin. She waved to me, signaling me to follow as she snuck down the hallways. I diligently trailed behind.

I no longer felt that I was out of control, that I was helpless. I was going to figure things out, and I was not going to do it by myself. A sense of calm smothered my senses. I followed Rosalie only half-aware.

"So who is your doctor?" Rosalie asked, peering around the wall. I did the same and saw a few doctors talking to one-another. It took me a second to realize that I did not know which one of them, if any, were my doctor. I shrugged. "Well that's a lot of help, Alice." Rosalie said. Without another word she walked around the corner. I ran to catch up, ignoring the lack of equilibrium that came with the quick movements.

"Excuse me," Rosalie said in a sweet voice. I had never heard such a false tone off of anybody, but the doctors did not catch on. They looked up from their conversation. A balding man with steel gray eyes looked down at his beeper, which simultaneously went off. He rushed out, and after watching him leave, a younger doctor responded to Rosalie.

"How may I help you?" The woman asked. She had red hair and blue glasses. She hardly looked like a doctor, but her demeanor was definitely doctor-like. Rosalie put on an embarrassed face.

"Well, my friend is in the hospital and we where trying to find out how he is doing. But," She paused dramatically, sniffling. "No one can tell me if he's okay."

Watching Rosalie's façade, watching how easily the tears sprung up, I wondered if that was how I looked when I was crying earlier. Rosalie really did look like an actress. I chuckled inwardly thinking about my performance. It was not the same. The doctors looked sympathetic, and the woman even placed her hand on Rosalie's shoulder.

"Here, let me go see if I can direct you to the right place." She said, guiding Rosalie toward the nurse's desk. The other doctors walked away. Feeling left behind momentarily, I followed again. I wanted to sit down, but my determination to find Jasper was stronger than the nausea that came when I was out of bed.

"What's your friend's name?" The doctor asked Rosalie. Rose walked up to the counter and sighed in a melancholy way.

"Jasper Whitlock," When Rosalie said his name, she looked close to tears again. The thought that Rosalie might not be pretending crossed my mind, but I did not dwell on it. I placed my forehead on the counter while the doctor typed away.

It was a moment before the woman continued, but she eventually did so. "It says here," She paused, clicking away at the keyboard. "That there is a waiting room for Jasper's friends and family. Would you like me to tell you were that is?" She must have looked up, because before Rose could respond she was talking again. "Honey, are you okay?" I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I knew it was not the doctor's. Rosalie answered for me. I could not bring myself to do so. I did not have the energy.

"It's her boyfriend." Rosalie explained in way of a true explanation. "Does it say anything about how he is doing on there?" I could hear the hope in Rosalie's voice. But judging by the fact that there was no immediate verbal response, the doctor did not know.

"Let's go to the waiting room." She suggested. "Maybe his doctor is there."

I felt Rosalie's hand go from my shoulder to my arm as she pulled me along. I don't know why I suddenly felt like sitting down, like giving up, but I did. I was close to breaking down the entire way to the waiting room. There would be no further answers there. I could feel Rosalie's frustration at the fact.

"Here we are," The doctor said with a smile, pushing her glasses up on here nose. "I hope your friend is okay. Do you need any more assistance?" She asked in that cheerful tone. I shook my head no before Rosalie could say anything. As I did so, I felt the ringing in my ears increase. The doctor said goodbye, leaving me and Rosalie at the door. I leaned onto my friend.

"Do you want to go in?" Rose asked. "We are here, maybe we will learn something. And we probably get in trouble for sneaking you out no matter what."

I nodded, not even thinking about the consequences of my parents finding out. Maybe they did know something. I closed my eyes as Rosalie opened the door. As I blindly followed her into the room, I sat down next on the floor before I even opened my eyes to see the interior of the room. It was silent.

Emmett and Edward, Bella and Carlisle, everybody was in here. Esme was quietly talking to Edward and Bella was sitting by herself on the couch. However, when the door opened, their actions were ceased to look at who had entered. After I was on the floor, feeling closer to misery than I had ever been in, Esme immediately came towards me.

"Alice," She said, opening her arms and sinking to my level. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in bed." The tone in which she spoke to me was motherly and kind, but I did not want that. I wanted the answers I was searching for; I just could not ask them. Rather than trying to vocalize my thoughts, I just shook my head no.

Rosalie spoke, and this time she did not sound perfect and proud as usual. She sounded sixteen, and scared. "We were in Alice's room, and nobody was telling us anything." I looked up and recognized that maybe some of her show was more than that. She looked truly upset now.

Emmett walked toward Rose, somewhat cautiously. I knew he was not used to seeing her like this, but I wasn't as interested as I should have been. His words, however, did relate to me and I listened carefully. "I got a nurse. She said that she would get the doctor to come over here. She said it would only be a minute."

"Well, you should have been faster. We were waiting for you." Rosalie said with a nod to assure herself. Emmett gave her a hug, and nobody spoke. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to watch them. Esme gave me a hug as well, but I did not respond. It was silent in the room. I did not question Edward's whereabouts, or why it took so long for Emmett to get his answer. I did not speak, nor did anyone else.

It was in this utter silence that I heard the door open, and a balding man with steel gray eyes entered the room.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

There was a moment where the world seemed to stop. I stared at the man in front of me. He could not be serious. The look on his face told me he was, but I knew that he had to be making this up. It could not be real.

Where were the balloons and the streamers and the people jumping out from their hiding spots? Where was the point where the doctor gave me this big smile, and he laughs? Where was that catchphrase? When was he going to say _gotcha?_

He wasn't doing it. It was as if the man forgot his queue. This was the right point. The friends sitting together, and the devastating news. I was waiting for him to continue, but he wasn't doing it in the right way. His words did not make sense. I tried to comprehend them, but what he had just said was like a looming mountain. One that you knew stood between yourself and what you want.

The doctor was still talking. Esme was asking questions. Bella was crying so hard. I was just waiting. I wanted him to laugh. I wanted this to be over, to go home. But the man kept talking, and he wasn't saying what I wanted him to say.

"Alice?" A voice asked. That wasn't what I wanted to hear. The voice repeated its question, but I did not look in its direction. "It's going to be okay, Alice." Edward was standing in front of me. He was kneeling down. He must have left Bella for a second. I looked back at my hands. I couldn't face Edward's stare. I couldn't meet his piercing green eyes.

A lot of people in the room where looking at me now. I could feel their eyes, even if I was not looking at them. I closed my own eyes. It wasn't like they were helping anyway, and I just needed them to stop. "Are you going to be alright?" I heard Edward ask again, but he was closer this time. I wanted to scoot away at the proximity. I just couldn't do it. My limbs were full of lead and my energy was zapped the second the doctor came into the room.

I recognized the fact that Edward was asking a question, but I tried to ignore it. He was sitting next to me on the floor. I suppose it was considerate, but I just wanted everybody to leave. I wanted to be by myself were I could try and think through what the man had said. It just did not make sense. This couldn't be happening.

The walls felt like they were closing in when I glanced upward to see if I really was on a boat. The way the floor kept moving I would not be surprised. I felt sick to my stomach, slightly dizzy, and definitely light headed. I saw the others talking, but I could not hear them. The doctor from before was looking at me, asking a question. I could not read his lips. Before he even finished speaking, I felt myself sucked into a vision. I was oblivious to the world around me.

"_Do you think she will be okay?" A voice was asking, standing over a hospital bed. There was a girl in the bed. She was ashen. The people standing around her were confused. They were sad. A boy responded._

"_That depends if Jasper is okay." He ran a hand through his copper hair and then sat down in a chair. A girl sat down next to him, also sad. _

"_Then let's hope he is okay."_

"_He will be." The boy said. "He would do anything for Alice."_

The vision stopped with such an intensity I felt like I had hit full-force into a brick wall. Gasping to inhale enough air, I felt my stomach flip inside of me. I rolled over, completely unaware, and fought the urge to throw up. Only when I eased the feeling could I open my eyes.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, rushing forward. I could see Edward had pressed the help button already. I tried to give them a smile before I remembered Jasper and the news of the doctor. He might not make it. With that grim thought in my head, I could not respond positively. I just shook my head no. "What's wrong?" Bella continued to inquire.

I found my voice a second later. "Has there been any change in Jasper?" I asked softly. The numbness from before my vision had faded into a painful pit where my heart was supposed to be. I felt sick, but worse than I had ever been before. It was not flu kind of sick. It was a whole new classification.

"Can you think about yourself for just one second?" Edward said with a quick temper. I jumped at the volume in his voice. "Jasper may or may not be okay, and I know that is not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. Worrying about it will not change anything. What will change is your health, so I suggest you stop." Edward growled. My eyes widened at his forced statement. Disbelief surged through me.

"What?" I said dumbly. Edward's own face mirrored mine as if he didn't expect himself to say those words. He instantly looked apologetic. However, before he could say anything, the nurse walked into the room.

"I see you're awake, Alice. How are you feeling?" She said, brushing back her bangs from her eyes. She was probably a little younger than my parents, but her voice was too cheery for the thick fog of emotion that resided within the room.

I looked at her, forgetting the question she had asked me. I was too focused on everything that was happening. It just did not make sense. One second, I am in the waiting room with terrible news, the next I am in my hospital room having a fight with a friend. What he said made even less sense. Not worry? Just the mentioning of Jasper sent a wave of pain at the thought of where he was. I could not focus on the nurse's question, not with all of the other questions running through my head.

The nurse was standing, waiting for me to answer with a big smile on her face. It looked so wrong in here. Ignoring my own true feelings, I gave the nurse a bashful smile. "What did you say?"

"How are you feeling, Alice?" She repeated, with that same smile. I nodded in response.

"I'm better." There was nothing else to say. My emotions were clouding my ability to talk. I wanted to ask Edward what he had meant with his outburst. Surely he hadn't meant I should forget about Jasper. They had been best friends before Jasper shut almost everybody out of his life.

"That's great. I will go get your doctor and find your parents. Then you guys can talk. Does that sound okay?" She asked. I nodded again. She turned to go fetch them with a skip in her step.

It would seem that her presence was the only thing holding back the despair that lingered in the room because the second she left, I felt heavier with the emotions.

"Look, Alice…" Edward began hesitantly. Bella remained silent, looking between the two of us, and before Edward could continue, I found my voice.

"What did you mean by that, Edward? Please tell me you were not insinuating that I should just forget about him. He is your friend too! I don't understand what you said. I don't understand any of what you said."

"I was just trying to say that I just…" Edward was at a loss for words. Bella continued for him in her usual, soft voice.

"We are worried for you as well, and you are hurting yourself with all this fretting. Alice, Edward cares about Jasper too. He just doesn't want to see both his friends hurt when only one of them has to be." Her voice was calm and sincere throughout, but her gaze darted back and forth. Edward nodded.

"I didn't mean it to come out the way it did. I am worried about Jasper and I am worried about you, and I don't want to see you in any more pain than you have to be. I'm sorry."

I nodded to show he was forgiven. I didn't want to sound like a broken record, but I had to ask again. "I know you don't want me to worry. I know that, but I really have to know. I need to see how Jasper is doing. How is he really?"

Bella and Edward looked at each other before Edward responded. "We don't know. They are only allowing one visitor at a time and I think Carlisle is with him. We don't know any of the specifics. He'll be okay though. He's a fighter."

I didn't know if I believed him. I sighed and looked out the over at the nightstand. "What happened in the waiting room?"

"You kind of just toppled over." Bella said, a question in her voice. "Were you having another vision?"

I nodded again. I didn't feel as bad as I did after the other vision. In fact, the vision helped. Unconsciousness was pleasant. At least then my heart did not ache like it does now.

"Was it about Jasper?" Bella asked even more softly this time. I shook my head with tears forming in my eyes. I had thought I was past that, but apparently not.

"It was about you guys." My voice was distorted this time.

Edward looked confused. "About us? What was happening?"

I did not want to be talking to them about the pointless vision. I would much rather be visiting Jasper. I knew this was getting out of hand, but I felt at a loss not knowing what was happening with him. Nevertheless, I still answered. They wouldn't want to know what I was actually thinking, especially not Edward. "You guys were in here. I was asleep. You were talking about me being okay and whether or not Jasper was going to get better. It was something along the lines of Bella asking Edward if I was going to be okay and Edward saying 'That depends whether Jasper is okay'."

This only seemed to confuse Edward farther. "But that, that happened." He looked odd.

Bella turned to Edward with a smile. "She can actually see the future, Edward. She wasn't lying."

Edward nodded. It looked like he was thinking. After a moment, he spoke again. "So you saw what happened to Jasper?" He asked softly with compassion in his voice. I nodded. The tears that had been building earlier broke out, flowing down my cheeks.

"He was begging and pleading for him to stop, but his dad was insane. He kept coming, saying these terrible things. Jasper was in so much pain." I paused, remembering the end of my vision. "Do you know what he was thinking before he was unconscious?" I took a breath, trying to steady myself. "He was thinking about me. He wanted me to help him. How am I supposed to when I can't even find him?" I was shaking again, and Bella came and wrapped her arm around me.

"You did help him, Alice. He would have died if you didn't tell me about him." She tried to comfort me. Edward was space out. He hadn't moved. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So it was his dad." It wasn't a question. I don't even know if Edward meant to speak it out loud. I still nodded in confirmation. Anger raised in my throat at the thought of him. Seeing me nod, Edward turned swiftly and started pacing.

There was silence. Only when the door opened to reveal both of my parents and the doctor did anybody speak. "Alice!" My mom exclaimed at the sight of me. "We were so worried!"

I did not question why they had not been in here, nor did I really care. I didn't return the hug my mom wrapped me into, but I did not know why I was mad at them. Maybe it was the residing anger, or maybe it was something else. I just could not bring myself to wrapping my arms around my mother.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked. It was a different doctor than Jasper's, but I could see a slight resemblance between the two. Maybe it was just the doctor quality in them both. I sighed at the question. I had been asked it one too many times.

"I'm much better now." Except for the pain in my chest. That could not be healed. Not without seeing Jasper.

"That's good." He said with a smile, walking closer to me and looking at the chart at the end of my bed. I could not hold back the question in the front of my mind any longer.

"Do you think I could check on my friend? He's in the hospital too." The words came out fast, but I could not wait in the prospect of seeing him again. I felt the first bit of hope since entering the hospital- real hope this time, not the stuff from earlier with Rose.

Before the doctor could respond, my mom sighed. "Honey, why don't you focus on yourself?" She said without realizing she was repeating Edward's message from earlier. I glared at her for a second before turning to the doctor.

"Do you think I could see him? It would make me feel much better." I tried to keep a pleading note in my tone. It wasn't hard.

The doctor looked hesitantly between my mom and me before responding. "As long as you get the okay from Mom and Dad and everything's okay when I check you out. I don't see why not."

I smiled, knowing I could get okay from the president if I had to.

I tried to keep my breathing even in fear that if it became erratic, the doctor would notice and wheel me strait back to the room that I had just escaped. It took a matter of seconds to convince my parents. They loved me; they knew how much I had to see him.

Thinking about Jasper caused me to jerk slightly, inhaling heavily. Here I was, being pushed around in a wheelchair like I was some freaking princess while he was, wherever he was. _Even breaths, _I told myself. I did not want to go back.

The only reason everyone went along with this is that I insisted I would go with or without their permission. And while I was healthy enough to sit in this chair, apparently walking was too much.

I wanted to growl I was so frustrated. I suppose I should have been elated that this was it. Within a matter of minutes I would get to see Jasper. That's how I should have been feeling, but I couldn't bring myself to that. The annoyance that burned in my stomach was too much.

It was uncharacteristic of me to have such a scowl on my face in a moment like this. I just couldn't do anything about my raging feelings. I was pretty sure the doctor had tried to pick up a conversation multiple times, I just wasn't paying attention.

He better be alright. It was just unfair to have me bear the burden of dealing with everything while Jasper got the easy way out. Bella chuckled next to me, despite the fact that when I looked over, she looked painfully distressed.

"What?" I asked, my voice coming out harder than I had intended. Bella rested her hand on my shoulder. I told my parents to hang back in the hospital room, but Bella insisted that she followed me through the halls. We were our own party of three: the doctor, Bella, and me.

"You mood has gone from happy to angry in a matter of seconds." Bella said. Her voice was not judgmental, but I could here a question in it.

"He'll be alright." The doctor said. I wanted to turn around and tell him to stay out of our conversation. I wanted to point out that he didn't even know what was wrong with Jasper. Heck, he didn't even know the room number. I wanted to tell him, but I kept my mouth shut, even if my temper was flaring. He was the one in control of where I went at the moment and it was best that I did not anger the man. Instead, I nodded, keeping my mouth pressed into a straight line.

Bella did not verbally respond either, and soon our trio walked in silence. I closed my eyes, willing myself to calm down. The anger was coming from my nerves. I knew it was petty, but right now I couldn't help but be mad at this whole freaking hospital.

I could now hear the doctor talking to a nurse at the desk, but I could not hear their words. I also felt Bella's hand tighten on my shoulder. I tried to ignore it. It seemed like eternity until we continued on. I knew it wasn't _quite _that long. Bella's boot thunked down the hallway, and I found that rather than grating on my nerves, the rhythmic sound was pleasant. Focusing on that, I hardly noticed that the doctor stopped again.

I opened my eyes to see the doctor walk around to stand in front of me. He knelt down in a condescending matter, even if he was doing it so we could talk face to face. "Alice," He said. I could tell from the tone it was a warning. "Your friend is in the ICU and I know it can be scary to see. But, don't be alarmed by the wires and tubes. They are there to help him, not hurt him. Do you got that?"

Had I been in a better mood, I might have smiled and nodded. If I had more energy, I might have rolled my eyes. Instead I made a slight inclination of my head to be a sign of the fact that I did get the point he was trying to make.

The doctor gave a solemn nod and was about to push me towards the door before I interrupted him. "Can Bella come in with me instead?" This time my voice was not so strong, but rather a delicate whisper. It was all I could do to muster the strength of voicing my fears. The doctor looked surprised at this. Nevertheless, he took a step back and let Bella walk forward with her uneven gate. The limp pushing the limp.

"Nobody should be in there but him. Dr. Cullen was in there. I think he is talking to the police now." He said. I did not want to think of the issues in this all. I did not want to ponder on the problems that would arise. I did not want to think at all.

I tried to close my eyes as I was pushed into the room, but I could not force myself to do so. I could feel the doctor's presence outside the door still, but that was not what I was paying attention to. Bella gasped, having it been her first time to see Jasper as well. She covered her mouth like she wanted to puke and averted her eyes.

I couldn't do it. Looking away probably would have helped the growing pit in my stomach. It might help my body to stop shaking, something that it recently decided to start doing. It definitely would have been easier to fight back the tears building in my eyes. I couldn't look away though.

My gaze was fixated to the teenager who was laid out on the bed like a body in a casket. He was still, utterly still. His face was swollen and misshapen, colored in all the wrong places. His leg was propped up and swathed in bandages, as was his chest and head. There were various wires stuck onto him, an IV in his arm. The most intrusive machinery, however, was the tube that protruded from his mouth. I didn't want to know what that did, but I did. The boy in the bed was unrecognizable. I couldn't decide if I actually knew the teen or not. It didn't look like Jasper.

I was moving closer to the bed, abandoning the wheelchair. My feet moved on their own accord as I tried to find some recognizable trait of Jasper from his still body. He was just laying there. "Alice," Bella's weak voice came from behind me. "Alice," She repeated. I did not turn around. I was trying to absorb this image while simultaneously repelling it. "Why?" Bella asked. Her clattering boot indicated she was walking towards me.

There were arms wrapped around me, not trying to be comforting, but clinging to me. Bella was crying so hard. I couldn't stand anymore. I sunk to the plastic chair next to his bed, Bella coming with me.

She was acting so differently. The calm, relaxed Bella was clearly replaced with the hysterical one in front of me. I knew I should bring my arm up from my side and wrap it around the crying girl. I couldn't though. How was I supposed to do that when Jasper couldn't?

I felt bile rising in my throat and I immediately jumped from Bella's embrace and ran to the door I assumed to be a bathroom. I gagged and choked until there was nothing left to cough up. I couldn't stop though, my muscles clenching and unclenching as I tried to rid myself of whatever I could. I would realize after I managed to stop that I was crying at the same time. There was nothing I could do but sit on the tile ground.

_That wasn't Jasper. _I tried to rationalize while simultaneously trying to come up with an excuse to forget this all. The world spun from the accompanying wave of vertigo. I clawed at my feet, still on the ground.

If that was Jasper, he would not be so still. Jasper was never still. He was fumbling and pacing and moving. He wouldn't be comfortable laying so exposed. His arms would be folded or his face shielded. It was not Jasper in the room. It was somebody else. It had to be.

There were steps coming towards me. Bella slid down the wall, her mood not close to calm but slightly better than before. She wrapped her arm around me again. There was not a word spoken.

The anger from before resurfaced, holding its own against the despair residing in me. It was all Mr. Whitlock's fault. Everything. He didn't accidentally forget about him and he hadn't made some tragic mistake. It was cold. It was deliberate.

_He was above me. He was strong. "Don't," I tried to say._

It was not as if he was lost in a moment of rage. He was just there. Causing pain. He was the reason Jasper was here. He was the reason Jasper was sprawled out on the bed, pale as a ghost aside from the distinguishing marks on his face, the cuts that adorned his body.

_Pain. There was pain as I felt myself being raised up. Blood. I smelt blood._

I felt like I was going to throw up again. I rolled and began to heave once more, nothing coming up all the same. Bella was rubbing my back. It didn't help. I wanted Jasper to talk to. I needed him.

_Alice. I thought. Help. I need help_

He needed me too. With the thought of Jasper being so alone, so weak against the attacks of a bigger and stronger man, I felt this strong urge pulsate through my body. For the first time, I felt the urge to kill.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

At some point the anger faded into weariness. I don't remember it, but that would explain the fact that I am sitting here, having just woke up. My neck ached from the position it had been in and one of my legs did not have a good circulation due to the fact it was under me. I stretched and ignored the images from before that sprung into my mind.

When I shifted, Bella woke up with a start. She had been resting her head on my shoulder. Blinking wearily, she glanced around the room with confusion before looking at her watch. "It's only been twenty minutes." She whispered in her typical voice. She wasn't looking at me when she was speaking.

Following her gaze, I looked toward the door. Jasper was in the other room. Rather than comforting him or just being there, I had succumbed to my own emotions, hiding away in the bathroom. A flare of guilt made itself known.

"Do you want to go out there?" She asked from beside me. I knew I had to. Seeing him like that before had been too much, but I knew what I was getting into this time. Rather than being excited to see him, I bravely got to my feet and headed toward the door.

Jasper hadn't moved. What was I expecting? He was lying exposed on the bed, his swollen eyes shut. I pushed the discarded wheelchair out of the way as I sat down in the chair next to the bed. My hands were shaking, but I refused to act as I had before.

Bella followed after a moment, looking awkward. "Do you want me to leave you guys for a bit? I can ask the doctor for you to have more time if you want."

To be completely honest with myself, I did not know whether I could spend any period of extended time in this bleak and sober room. But ignoring my feelings, I nodded. I owed it to Jasper. "If you don't mind." I said under my breath. Whether Bella heard or not, I do not know. Either way she gave me a small smile and fled the room. She might have been feeling the oppressive feelings in the room as well.

When Bella was gone, I calmly looked to Jasper once more. I guess I expected for him to make a comment. He didn't. I hesitantly looked down his arm to see if grabbing his hand would be acceptable.

It was wrapped in the cast. It was mismatched with the one on his leg. While that one looked sterile and new, this one was fraying. I found myself in a teary smile realizing if Jasper just left it alone it would be in better condition.

The injury was old, and it was protected. I felt safe weakly grasping his limp fingers. I couldn't damage them, or I hoped I couldn't. Jasper looked so fragile I had trouble believing that.

It was quiet apart from the steady humming of the various machines and the slow whooshing sound of the nearest piece of equipment. I felt alone in here, despite the fact Jasper was within feet of me. I couldn't picture him as the boy I hung out with so frequently. He was just a capsule for the soul that I had completely fallen in love with.

That thought shocked me. I nearly jumped at the abruptness of the words. I hadn't confessed my love to Jasper. I was vague with discussing it, and I avoided the specific word a lot when it came to my own thoughts. The blush that would ensue when I did start to think of love usually kept me away from it.

But my checks were not getting red. I didn't feel embarrassed or nervous as I thought of all the possibilities. I did, however, feel a sense of hopelessness at the fact that Jasper may never know exactly how I felt.

I tried to push away my emotions as I thought deeper into the problem. Sure, the doctors had said they thought he was going to be okay. At the same time though, they said he was not out of the woods quite yet.

So I was here, thinking of my might-be-dying best friend. I was in a hospital, thinking of my definite love of him. Wasn't this the point were he was supposed to wake up and we lived a happily ever after? Unless it was a tragedy, then the outcome would be quite different.

So I sat there. I sat there until I couldn't take the silence, the lack of motion. I stood up and paced. My dizziness and nausea upon moving had faded, leaving me to my thoughts. I felt like I should be saying something, be doing something. Isn't that what they do in the movies? This was where I was supposed to confess my undying love to his unconscious body.

I took a deep breath, still pacing, to think of what I should say. I started wearily. "So, Jasper." It was an awkward start. "I know that I totally told you earlier that I, that I kind of liked you. I know we talked about if it was still true," Another awkward pause. "It still is, and that's why you, uh, have to get better real soon."

My mind was blank for what to say. Thinking of movies, I thought of what an actor might say at this point. "You have to wake up, Jasper." It was a lame effort.

Discarding the Hollywood attempt, I closed my eyes and pictured Jasper sitting up on the bed, staring at me with his expectant eyes. _"What are you trying to get at, Alice?" _He asked, and although I knew he wasn't actually speaking, I could hear his voice clearly in my ears. I grinned while tears sprung to my eyes.

"You know, Jasper. You are always so to the point. Just let me get what I am trying to say out, my way. Your way is so blunt, Mr. I'm-no-fun." I laughed at my own words, even if they were not that funny. I could picture Jasper's wry grin, laughing at my stupidity.

"It's true. The only time you aren't getting strait to the subject is when it's about something you don't want to talk about it. Like, trying to ask you something about your past was like trying to ask a wall what its favorite color is. The answer is right in front of you, but it's not speaking."

Jasper would be shaking his head now, still chuckling. He would he wondering how I could make a connection between him and a piece of dry-wall. He might even inquire about it, but I wouldn't reveal any secrets. I could picture myself pretending to zip my lips closed and throwing the key away. _"Could you really not talk, Alice? I'm guessing you wouldn't make it more than a minute." _

I glared at him. I knew Jasper would have to be in a really good mood to be joking around as much as he was. The small grin on his face was definitely not a contradiction to this assumption. "Okay, so I could totally last more than a minute if you actually talked sometimes." He knew I was just kidding. "Maybe if you said more than three-word sentences I wouldn't have to compensate."

Jasper would just stay quiet to annoy me. But I wouldn't get annoyed. The look on his face would be so happy, so sincere that I would forget my joke. Instead, I'd just smile back until I had to ask another question. "So you are happy, Jasper?"

He would nod quickly, not really thinking of the answer. I would stare at him until he answered thoughtfully. It wouldn't take him long to catch on. _"I'm happy. I'm happier than I have been in a while." _

I would make fun of him for such an answer, in which he would respond along the lines of _"You made me do it,"_ or something like that. I would laugh and the conversation would only go downward from there. Eventually, Jasper would look at me in all honesty and say _"Alice, you've made me happy." _

I smiled and felt loved on the inside. Outwardly I would scowl. "Well, I can't stand to be around you."

Jasper would laugh. _"You've always been terrible at sarcasm." _I grinned because I knew it was true. I opened my eyes, expecting Jasper to be there, that same grin on his face. But I didn't see his dancing eyes. There were shut. They were purple and they were disfigured from the bruises.

I closed my eyes, trying to picture the Jasper that was just there. His face only came back scarred. Leaning over the bed, gripping his fingers firmly, the smile I had moments ago was replaced with an expression of grief.

I still had not lifted my head from the sheets when my mother cautiously approached me about an hour later. Her footsteps were light, but when I looked up the expression on her face was not soft. I could see the anger on her face. "Alice?" She asked abruptly, interrupting the gentle hum of the room.

It was hard to move my gaze from Jasper for more than a minute, but my mother was never one for lack of eye contact. I knew she would not hold her desired conversation until I met her gaze. Glancing up once to assuage her, I saw that her visage had mellowed from a moment before. She started to speak immediately.

"Honey, the police are here. They wanted to talk to you." I could see that she must have argued with the men. Obviously, they must have convinced her it was okay, but you could tell from the way her eyes glinted that this had not been her idea.

I was confused the second her words registered in my mind. "Why would they want to talk to me?" They didn't know about my visions, so how would they know I would have any idea of what had happened?

"The others pointed out that Jasper spent most of his time with you. I guess his siblings aren't saying anything, so they went for the next closest person." She said in a bitter tone. I nodded, knowing that the twins would never speak against their father. I was a bit surprised by the silence from Amanda and Josh, but I did not speak of it.

My mother gestured to the wheelchair. I shook my head with a fierce glare, and for once in my life, my mother let it go. I was standing up to leave when I realized what I was doing. "Mom, can I meet you outside in a second?"

It was her turn to look confused, but seeing my unwillingness to leave she obeyed my wishes. "But hurry up, Alice. They are waiting for you."

I ignored her, not moving until I heard the door shut. "Jasper?" I asked softly, knowing he wouldn't answer. There was a pause where I imagined him responding. "I'll be back in a little bit. I swear I am coming back though. Really soon. I'm sorry you were in here alone for so long." It sounded like I was talking to myself. The doctors never told me if he could hear, but I couldn't imagine he would be able to.

It was then that I did something unexpected. I brought the fingers in my grasp up to my lips and kissed them. Without a second thought, I ran out of the room to my mother, feeling as if I had done something terrible. I had kissed Jasper.

Our last kiss was awkward from my inexperience, but nothing could be more painfully uncomfortable than me kissing the boy's unconscious fingers. Tears of both sadness and embarrassment fell down my face. I tried to ignore the battling feelings in my body, and by the time we walked through the white walls of the hospital to our destination, they were gone. I had quite efficiently blocked them out.

My mother had been quiet the entire time we where walking. She turned and gave me a motherly look. "I was so worried about you." Her voice was loud and clear. "Just take care of yourself." With those few spoken words and thousands of unspoken ones, my mother pulled me into a crushing hug.

"I love you too, Mom." I said in her grip. It was nice to feel surrounded like this. I hadn't had this sort of hug since I was a child, in need of such a concrete form of appreciation. She let go of me after a minute and gave her typical serious look.

"Just tell them the truth, Alice. You have nothing to hide." She gave a small smile and pushed me toward the door. Her words confused me. Why would she say I had nothing to hide? She didn't think I did it, hopefully. Whether or not she knew it, what she said applied to my visions. But I would not listen to her advice in that regard. If I wasn't sent straight to the asylum, things at least would not go over smoothly. I ran a hand through my hair as I opened the door, leaving my advice-giving mother behind.

There was only a little chatter going on in the room. It came solely from the police officers adorned in blue. They were talking to one another while all four of Jasper's siblings sat quietly on a couch identical to that of the one in the waiting room. All of their heads turned to me when the door opened, their expressions ranging from complete joy from Josh to a small sneer from one of the twins, which one I do not know.

A cop looked over to me while the other was talking. He gave me a small smile and gestured for me to sit on the couch. Glancing wearily at the open spot next to the twins, I sat on the armrest next to Amanda and Josh. Josh's smile widened.

"Hi, Alice." He said with unrestrained joy. He looked the same as always, small and adorable. I gave him my best little kid smile and waved to him.

"Hey, Josh."

The smile on his face tripled. "What are you doing here, Alice?" He seemed to have an affinity for repeating my name today. "The cops came to our place when I was in my room. Amanda came and brought me to the police car." He paused, clearly remembering. "It was big!"

I paused, having never thought of the repercussions to the rest of Jasper's family. Looking up to Amanda, I saw her face was evidence of having cried recently. I gave her a small smile. Rather than answering the small child, I addressed her. "Are you okay?"

"I haven't slept in the last thirty hours or so and they won't tell me what's going on. I'm doing great." She said, nodding while speaking, her face turning redder than before.

I opened my mouth to speak, even if I did not know what to say, when Amanda continued. "I knew he was being hurt. I was getting ready for school when it happened. How stupid does Jasper have to be? My dad was so angry when he left, and he still came back? Jasper's an idiot."

"Yeah," I said slowly. "He is, but he's going to be okay. I just came from his room." I was trying in vain to comfort the mature pre-teen. Amanda's face, pointed downwards, immediately looked up. Her widened eyes met mine.

"He's okay?" There was a hint of disbelief in her voice. I nodded in confirmation. Just as her mouth opened to say more, I heard my name from across the room. I looked over. The police officer was clearly waiting for me to come over.

I smiled to both of them. "I'll talk to them. Maybe I can use my persuasive skills to break you out." I ruffled Josh's hair as I walked away.

It was just the other side of the room, only twenty feet or so. But when I was over here, I felt like I was in a different world. "I'm Alice." I said redundantly to the officers. They both nodded. I stated the obvious.

One of them, a man with gray hair and a strong build, motioned for me to sit. I looked down to see an office chair. As I sat down, the two officers did the same. I could tell now that all of us were seated, they would start to ask questions.

"I'm Detective Moore, and this is Detective Harrison." The same man said, gesturing first to himself and then to the other officer. I nodded to show my understanding of the situation. "We're going to ask you a few questions, if that is okay." I nodded again feeling repetitive. "Okay, then." He smiled.

"What was your relationship to Jasper Whitlock?" He asked with hardly any emotion in his voice. I blushed at the question. I was supposed to be honest, right? But explaining the situation between me and Jasper was a long story that they wouldn't understand.

"We're really good friends." I said. "Not really boyfriend and girlfriend, but close to it."

The answer seemed adequate because they both nodded and scribbled down my words. "Where were you at the time of the event?"

"I was at school." I tried to say. Emotion fogged my voice. They didn't ask another question, so I assumed they were waiting for me to continue. "I kind of fainted though, so I didn't hear about it until I woke up in the hospital."

"Your friend told us it was you who instructed her to call 911." It was a statement, but they wanted an explanation. I shrugged, dredging up my lying skills, but feeling bad for it.

"I felt like something was wrong. Jasper told me he was going to his home, and I knew his dad was really mad at him. When he didn't show up for school, I thought the worst." Both officers nodded.

"Did you know something happened between his father and Jasper?" The other asked, Detective Harrison. I felt guilty at this question.

"He only told me because I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I actually guessed it before he told me. With the bruises and his attitude, it was obvious." I smiled when I thought of our conversation before all of this. "He was going to go tell some one about it, right after he talked to his siblings. That's why he went home." As I was talking, a weird, uncomfortable feeling rose in my stomach. I recognized what it was right before it happened. My vision of the officers faded.

_Confusion. There were people around me. They were leaning over, saying something. I couldn't hear them. I felt too much to notice any other less important sense. I was in pain. They were saying more._

_I was choking. Something obstructed my throat, but I could breathe. I didn't like it. I tried to struggle, to get away from everybody. I couldn't though; it was like I was tied down. I was confused. I was scared._

My awareness came back to me with a gasp of air. I looked at both of the officers. They looked alarmed. Detective Moore was half on his feet. "Are you okay, Alice?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I have to go. We can finish this later." I got to my feet and ran. I ran through the hallways, and even though I had no idea where I was going, my feet led me straight to Jasper. I ran to him because he was awake, and he needed me now.

Jasper POV

It was like being in a lull, a very painful lull. I could feel my aching limbs and pounding head, but I could not move them. I could tell I was lying down, but I could not tell you where I was. It was like being in a middle ground between consciousness and the realm of dreams. It was somewhat pleasant, somewhat torture.

I couldn't see, not even the slightest hint of light. I could hear though. There were muffled voices and thumping footsteps. Even with this slight advantage, I could not decipher my location or the reasoning for being here.

I couldn't remember much of anything. I found it difficult to concentrate. When I thought about an event, I would come up with a blank. Thinking only increased the headache I had seemed to acquire.

The last thing I could clearly remember, with absolute definition, was waking up next to Alice. Truth be told, I hadn't slept all too much that night, but it was more than I had in a while. Waking up and turning over to face Alice was better than the dreams that I had conjured during my sleep. She had still been sleeping, but that was something rational to do that early in the morning.

I had made my choice the night before to go through with it all. I felt determination as I gently woke Alice up when it was time for me to leave. She looked at me with those sleep-clouded eyes and I knew I was making the right decision. The only thing I regretted was having to leave her alone.

I left her house, sneaking out so nobody heard. I remembered the precarious walk out. I remembered gently pulling the door closed. I remember that, but the rest was a blank. A complete void.

It was rather hard to find out how I got from point A to point B when point B was a mystery. It was like trying to solve an algebraic equation with too many variables. It just couldn't be done. I would have grown frustrated had I had the energy to do so.

But everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, my thoughts that is. Thinking of words, of sentences, it was like trying to find that object you left on the counter, but its not there anymore. My emotions were diluted and I felt calm. Well, content except for the pain.

It wasn't necessarily excruciating, but it was there and it was not something easily ignored. My mind was easily distracted in this state, except when it came to the way my body was physically feeling. Nothing could help that.

The one thing that did alleviate the burning sensation that pulsated through my body was the distant voices. I struggled to make sense of the words. If I hadn't been hearing underwater, it would have been easier. I recognized a man's voice first, giving relaxed and constant murmurings. The hum of his voice was pleasant, nothing compared to the next one I heard.

It was a wail. It was high pitched and very distinctive. It didn't end at that, though. Her voice rose out among the fog. I caught glimpses into what she was saying, but that did not help to understand what she was actually trying to convey. It did not make too much sense. I didn't like the worried tone laced into the voice at the beginning, but it eventually mellowed out, even more enjoyable than the man's.

I felt like I should recognize the owner of both voices, particularly the last one. I couldn't though. The mutterings were still very obscured. Either way, both were a distraction from what I was feeling.

It was quiet now though. I wish one of them would come back. If not for the feeling of security they brought, then because of the fact the pain had only been worsening as time droned on. It got to the point where I could wriggle my body from the discomfort, even if it would not respond upon my command.

And even though the voices were gone, I was starting to hear more and more. There was a beeping resounding through the air with a regular pattern and various other unidentifiable noises. I would not say they were annoying, but just ever present.

And as ridiculous as this sounds, it was like they were calling me. They were like an anchor, forcing me not to drift away. But more so, they were bringing me in. The noises got louder and the pain swelled to a new climax.

I found that I could move when I attempted to turn away from the constant beeping and whooshing surrounding me head. It felt weird to do so, like my body had not tried to get into motion for a while. I turned my head away from the noise, crunching my eyes in displeasure.

With that came a new revelation. It took me an attempt or two, but I opened my eyes when I found that I could do so. I did not recognize where I was. This sent a sweeping panic through me weary body. I found that I could shift much easier now, and as I was, my heart beating all the faster.

This place was unrecognizable, with the basic ceiling and standard walls not familiar to me. The most alarming thing however, was when I tried to relax the slightest bit, I could not breath.

After just discovering that my eyes were under my control, I lost it as I found them widening on their own accord. I couldn't breathe. It was as basic and as simple as that, but I could not fully process this information.

I immediately found my hands attempting to rise to my mouth. It was like they were tied down, heavier than they should be. The more pressing matter at hand though, was the fact that something was blocking my airway. I tried to push it out with my mouth, but it wouldn't budge. My extremities were all moving now without any thought being put into it. My heart was blocking out my hearing with its loud thudding.

People were coming at me. They were talking, saying calm things. It reminded me of the man's voice. They were speaking in steady tones while their hands contradicted themselves, flying around me.

"Jasper," One voice said, close to my ear. I had a feeling he was referring to me, but my brain wasn't thinking about the word. "You're in the hospital. You need to relax. You are going to hurt yourself."

The sentences were too long. I couldn't string together one word to the next to find the meaning of his speaking. Instead, I was trying to get my hands to my mouth. People were holding them down while the voice tried to speak to me, giving me a message.

"We're going to have to sedate him," One of the people was saying. I could hear his confidence, but I couldn't comprehend his announcement. I didn't like it though.

I struggled more. The pain was now to the point in which it could be described as agonizing. The man was coming at me now, something in hand. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see. I wanted out. I needed out. I wanted to be back with Alice. I wanted to wake up next to her. I didn't want to be here, with these people. I wanted to feel warm and safe. All I felt now was the intrusive piece of something that obstructed my flow of respiration. I fought to be back with her.

Every time I tried to ward off the attackers, I tried to think of Alice. I needed the determination. I needed to think clearly. But I really wasn't. I could tell the fact with my anxiety and alarm so intense. I was sweating and crying. I heard the people, or I tried to. Aside from my unsteady heartbeat, all I heard was the person whispering in my ear and the constant whooshing of the machinery around me. A shrill beeping punctuated the air even further.

Alice. If I was with Alice everything would be okay. I hated to give her the stress of being my salvation, but it was all I could do to escape the here and now. She was so fragile when I had woken her up so recently. Her mind was fogged with sleep and her movements were groggy. But I knew I would protect her. It felt weird now, almost asking for hers. That felt like my responsibility, but I couldn't protect anybody now. Not with my impending death so near. Everyone knew what happened when you couldn't breath. It was a rather obvious answer.

I felt something on my arm. It was rather distinctive amongst the hurt. It started just an isolated numbness, but it spread through me rapidly. Thinking of Alice, I swore I saw her on the edge of my vision. She was standing there, tears in her eyes and her mouth open from terror. I wish I could protect her, but I couldn't do, or think, much after the numbness encompassed me into that same state of being in which I had originally woke up in. I began to hear less and less, the object in my mouth seemed not to bother me, and the flurry of motion died down.

I was once again left alone with only the constant ache, the steadying rhythm of the machine, and the image of Alice burned into my mind.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Alice Point of View

"Is he in a lot of pain?" I said, not looking at the person to whom I was asking the question. I could not look away from the slack face. Just minutes ago -less than ten- this same face was marred from the experience he was going through. Jasper had been so vulnerable, yet so volatile, in his moment of delusion. I rested my hand on his, hoping he could feel the sensation. At the same time, I hoped he was lacking that part of his consciousness altogether. He wouldn't have had that look on his face if he had not been in pain.

Carlisle did not seem too bothered by the fact I did not meet his gaze. Or so I could assume from his tone. It was smooth and comforting. Edward had taken after his adopted father in that regard. Both of them had that same aura of assurance that reminded me of a brother- or father in Carlisle's case. "He shouldn't be. We have given him something for it." There was a pause in his soft reply. "He is going to be okay, Alice. I know he doesn't look like it now, but he is young and healthy. Just give it time."

I wanted to believe the voice. I really wanted to, but I did not know if I could. "But then what was everybody saying earlier? Why did they say they didn't know?" Anger was laced into my tone. "I asked so many times, and everybody said they didn't know."

Carlisle took a step forward, resting his hand on my shoulder, much the same as he had earlier. When everybody else left the room after Jasper's episode, I filed in. At the time I was worried Jasper would shatter if I touched his broken body. I had sat hesitantly at the edge of my seat, wanting the comfort of physical touch but to nervous to actually do so. Carlisle had come in and gently touched my shoulder, at the same time guiding my opposite hand. He had placed it on Jasper's and squeezed both. The interlaced hands had brought me both comfort and reassurance then, just as it was now.

"You have to have faith, Alice." Carlisle said in an uncharacteristic voice. It sounded strained and worried. I glanced up to Carlisle. His face was creased with apparent anxiety and his eyes were fixated on Jasper's closed ones.

I decided to not mention this lapse of confidence, but I felt my heart sink at the words. Trying to look for the positive, I scoured the past for some indication that everything was going to be okay. "Waking up was a good sign, right?" It was the first that had popped into mind. I was no doctor, but surely it was a good thing.

Carlisle continued to study Jasper. It was as if he expected him to respond, as I had earlier. Nevertheless he responded in a doctor's formality this time. "Waking up was definitely indicative that his body is recovering. However, the situation stressed him. He had an elevated heartbeat," Carlisle continued to speak using large, medical words. He sounded like he had swallowed a doctor's dictionary. He spewed out words with a monotone voice, detached and swift.

Hearing the words, even if I did not understand them, was not helping to comfort myself. It was worsening the situation if anything. It made it more real. I knew that the words used were conditions or equipment related to Jasper, otherwise they would not have been mentioned. I tried to tune Carlisle out as he began to speak faster and faster, his hand clenching slightly –not painfully- on my shoulder.

I reached up and placed a hand on his. "Mr. Cullen," I interrupted, tears streaming down my face at this point. Carlisle stopped abruptly at this and looked in my direction. He took a big, calming breath.

"Yes?"

I squeezed his hand slightly. It felt odd to be trying to help a parent with their worries, but I felt like I had to. "Don't get hung up on this."

I knew it was hypocritical to say something like that. Who was the one that could not dwell on her own health until she saw Jasper? Wasn't it Edward who told me something along the same lines? Wasn't it me telling him he was wrong?

But I felt like I had to tell Carlisle this. He looked, he looked pained. Not like the Jasper from before. No, that image will be forever burned into my brain. It was more like the grimace of a parent- a parent who would be in this situation. I almost smiled at the thought of Carlisle behaving as such to Jasper, but it was hard to imagine. Edward and Jasper had spoken very little to indicate friendship, even if I knew they had been very good friends only a little before when I came to Forks. Carlisle must have felt the same compulsion to protect that I did.

He spoke after a minute, guilt laced into his tone. "I'm very sorry about that, Alice. I hadn't meant-"

I interrupted before he could continue. "I didn't understand half of what you were saying, Mr. Cullen. Really, its fine." The smile I had on my face was for his benefit only. It felt wrong on my face as I held my hand on Jasper's broken one. Carlisle nodded solemnly and silence pursued.

I usually was not one for the perfectly quiet. I'll have my times where I just need some air to think. But anytime there was a prolonged time like this, I would have been uncomfortable. Now, however, it was the only noise that fit the situation.

It was calm, but eerie. Dangerous and unpredictable. The words that described it were key in the description of Jasper's still form. I did not appreciate the noise, really. It just worked though.

Jasper hadn't moved throughout our short-lived conversation. His eyes were still closed, his muscles were still completely relaxed. I didn't like that very much either. But again, it just worked in this situation. Obviously Jasper could not handle being awake.

The train of thought came full circle as I watched Jasper with a calm expression. He couldn't be in any pain, could he? He looked like he was in so much agony. The tube in his mouth kept him from vocalizing it. That didn't matter though. The expression in his eyes spoke volumes. Clouded as they were, they were screaming of something more than discomfort, farther than being frightened.

I wish I could have been there, closer. I wish I had been the one to whisper in his ear. I wanted to tell him I loved him. I wanted to explain that the only way for him to let me show that love would be for him to relax. If he had just calmed down, they would not have had to sedate him. He could be awake.

But he wasn't. I wasn't the one to tell him those things, he had not been able to smother the overwhelming feelings, and the drugs that were being pumped through his veins were too powerful to overcome. I didn't like it. I didn't want it.

I stroked Jasper's fingers carefully. I tried to hold on as much as possible. I wanted him to know that I was here, that he wasn't alone. His skin was slightly cold to the touch, but I didn't know why. I closed my eyes, both relishing in the silence and repelling it. That is, until Carlisle broke it.

"Alice?" He asked after a moment or so. I opened my eyes and turned in his direction.

"What is it?" Concern filtered in my tone as I saw Carlisle looking thoughtful.

"Earlier today I was talking to Esme and I think it would be best if we have a family meeting with all of us. I would like to go over everything and we can talk a little bit if you don't mind. Would you be okay with that?" He sounded so sincere when he was speaking. I felt another tear role down my face when he referred to a meeting with Edward's friends a family meeting. It was just the type of thing Carlisle would do.

However, apprehension struck at the thought of what he was asking me to do. I didn't fully understand, so I voiced these confusions. "What would it be about?"

Carlisle looked over at Jasper again, clearly thinking. Rather than answering my question, he asked his own. "Do you know why Jasper is here, Alice?"

Again, I felt myself wanting the impossible. I wanted to shake my head no. I wanted Carlisle to tell me about a car accident or some fluke accident. Better yet, I wasn't Carlisle to tell me this was all a dream. He didn't do that because I didn't shake my head. I slowly nodded, rubbing my fingers even faster against Jasper's cool fingers.

"Well," Carlisle said slowly, assuming his fatherly tone. "Being a doctor here and waiting as family, the other doctors and police have explained to me what happened." He took a breath. "I want to talk to everybody before the news spreads and everybody learns from gossip and whatnot."

I could tell Carlisle was surprised with my response, but I could see his reluctance to answer the question as well. I thought of what Carlisle was saying though. I didn't know if I liked the idea or was horrified by it. "Shouldn't we wait to talk to Jasper?" I tried to ask.

"I just want everybody to meet together and discuss what has happened and what will happen. We don't have to get into specifics, okay Alice?" Truth be told, I didn't know.

"Who will be with Jasper though?" I looked over to the frail boy in bed. I did not want to leave him by himself. It was hard enough leaving for the cops, but I didn't know if I could do it again. Not with what happened last time.

"He is going to be in a procedure in an hour or so. You won't be able to see him anyways. I don't want to pressure you. That's the last thing I want to do. But do you think you could just sit in? I'd like to have everybody there, and that includes you."

The first part of his small speech scared me. I did not like the way Carlisle said that, but by the end I felt myself nodding. I felt like I was a part of things, and I needed to know what was going to happen as much as everybody else. I found myself agreeing to be a part of the discussion, even if I didn't like the idea of it.

It was only a couple minutes after Carlisle left when I heard somebody enter the room. It was inevitable, I suppose, that it was when this person enter the room did I turn to say something particularly nasty. I just wanted to be left alone with Jasper. I didn't know if he could hear the events in here, but if he could I didn't want him to hear this.

However, when I turned to yell at this person, the words died on my lips. My mother was standing there with her customary worried expression, clutching a cup of coffee in front of her. "Can we go back to your room now, Alice?" Although her anxiousness was visible, her voice was strong and determined. I would not be able to get out of this one.

But I also did not want to leave Jasper's side. He was so still I felt that if I wasn't watching him constantly, he might just fade from sight. He skin resembled the sheets enough already. I felt a pang of sadness at the thought of leaving him alone. He had always been alone.

"Mom," I tried to say in a voice to match her own, but failing miserably. "Can you just stay here or something?" I knew she would not consent before the words even left my mouth, I just did not want to have to leave him.

"You need to get back to your room. The doctor will give you an exam to make sure its okay to leave, and then you will be discharged. After that you can spend all the time you want with Jasper."

I did not like her condescending tone. The way she brushed off Jasper's condition made me angry, but getting into a fight with my mother was pointless, absolutely pointless. I opted rather than directly opposing her, to try and get her to see reason.

"I don't think Jasper should be by himself, Mom. His parents are not going to be here, and he doesn't have anyone else." The pleading in my tone was evident.

But just my luck, when I said those words, another person entered the room. This time I was facing the door. But even so, when she entered, I was mildly surprised. "Amanda?" I asked warily.

She didn't have Josh with her this time, and her face looked like she had washed it, but it was definitely her. I saw her eyes flicker to the bed immediately. I watched them widen, but only for a second. When she spoke, she was addressing both me and my mother. "Is it okay if I stay with him for a bit?"

My mother cut in before I had the chance to speak. "Alice and I were just leaving." She walked forward and gave the girl a hug- despite not even knowing her. "He will be okay, don't you worry. If you need anything, we are right around the corner, okay?"

Jealously surged in me momentarily at the way my mother was behaving with a girl she has never met. Here I am, and she tells me I need to leave him. Amanda comes in and within five seconds, my mother is hugging the poor girl.

I shouldn't have felt the emotion. Amanda, as well as the rest of her siblings, was going through a rough time. I didn't know what was happening with their mother and father, but obviously they weren't here now. I knew it must have been hard for the girl, but that didn't mean I should be scoffed off either.

Amanda nodded in my mother's embrace before squirming her way out and taking a step closer to her brother. I, too, turned my gaze to the boy and felt my eyes prick with tears once again.

"Did the cops let you go?" I asked with little curiosity. I was more trying to evade the thoughts that usually sprung up when I looked at Jasper. Amanda turned her back to Jasper, obviously not enjoying the sight.

"I told them I needed some air, and asked politely if I could come down here to see him." She said, neither saying his name nor looking at the subject of her sentence.

"Where's Josh?" I asked quickly when I saw my mother open her mouth. I hadn't really been thinking about the question, I just needed to fill the space so my mother could not add to the conversation.

"He's staying with Chase and Austin. They told me they'd watch him." The look on her face was troublesome. I didn't believe that Jasper's younger twin brothers had the ability to watch the harmless and friendly Josh. I didn't like the two boys all that much.

This time my mother did add her input. "Alice and I have to go back to her room now. I'm glad Jasper has somebody to stay with him now." My mother's comment made her message very clear. What she was actually saying was _Let's go now, Alice. Your excuse doesn't work now. _

I stood up and looked at Amanda warily. After all, she was just a preteen. She shouldn't have to be here alone. "Are you going to be okay?"

The expression on her face was blank. It did not show grief as it had earlier. She nodded with the confidence I had only seen on my mother- nobody else. I knew she could handle herself, and I think my mother got that same idea.

"Okay, I'll be back soon." I said as my mother practically dragged me out of the small hospital room where Jasper lay unprotected.

"Bye, Amanda." My mother said just as we left, not in a particularly loud voice. Still, Amanda jumped a little in a very Jasper-like manner. I felt pity for the girl, even if she could come off as uncaring at times. She waved and had a smile on her face as we left, but I remembered the vision I had had earlier. She wasn't as okay as she portrayed right now.

When I was being pulled down the hallway by my mother, I wondered why she was in such a hurry today. She walked with long strides despite her short stature, and I found myself trotting to keep up with her. "Are you okay, Mom?" I asked that same question again, this time to a different person.

She didn't reply until we got back to the room I had woken up in. She turned and gave me a hug. I felt loved when she did so. "I have been so nervous recently." She said as an excuse. "I haven't been this jittery since my wedding day."

I laughed at that thought. "I thought Dad was nervous then. He was the one to faint during the vows." I ignored what she was actually trying to say. She was trying to ask for my forgiveness. She knew she was being blunt beforehand, just as she knew she hadn't been the hovering mother when I was sick.

"It's just," She started, pretending to be oblivious to my response. "I didn't like seeing you in here. I'm such a terrible mother, Alice. And your friends have been keeping you company all this time. You see them more than you see me." She paused and I could see uncharacteristic tears building in here eyes. "And I told you that you were being silly to invest so much in them, to stay so close to Jasper. And when he was hurt, I didn't want you to see him. I should have. You probably care for him so much, even if you guys haven't known each other for long. You only had each other. I should have been there for you more."

I stood still, as if moving would set her off again. My mother was so remorseful, so not my mother. She was the one to always assume she was right, even if she wasn't. She was not one to apologize like this. That only made her words stronger though. We hugged again, but this time it was me giving her the hug rather than vice versa.

"I care for Jasper a lot, Mom. I might even love him. But I love you too. You haven't abandoned me." The words came out more fiercely than I had intended, but it didn't seem to bother my mom, nor did it bother me.

My mom was full out crying, and the moment was only interrupted when my doctor walked into the room. Taking in the scene before him, he blushed slightly. "I can come back if you want." He apologized.

My mother stepped away from me and straightened her shirt, but she did not wipe the tears away from her eyes. In a business-like manner, she replied. "No, now is a good time."

The doctor looked more comfortable when the family moment was done with. He quickly gave me an exam and officially discharged me when he was finished. They said both the seizure and the passing out was due to emotional distress and exhaustion. I just nodded to the excuse.

As it happens, Mom had a bag of my clothes with her. I changed into them before we left the room, and I was glad to feel like my old self. All hints of nausea and headaches were gone now.

"Hey, Mom?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't know how she would react after her previous outburst. She turned her head to acknowledge that she was listening. "Dr. Cullen asked if I could go see him in a bit." I left it hanging, not really wanting to say that I wanted to leave her.

She nodded. My mother was good at things like that. "I'm going to go call your father. After he found out you were okay, he went back to work. He'll be glad to hear that you are doing better now."

Part of me wished that she had told me no, that I could not go see the Cullens. That way, I would have an excuse as to why I could not take part in the discussion Carlisle wanted us to have. I waved my mother off, insisted that I was going to be okay, before heading back to the waiting room we had been given in the beginning.

That was where I assumed they would be. Again, I half-wished that nobody would be in there. Dread filled my stomach with each step closer to the small room. If I couldn't find them, I wouldn't have to talk about anything. I was not ready to discuss the situation with everybody.

But just my luck, Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie, Bella, and Edward were all in the waiting room. True, Emmett was half-dosing, but everybody was there. I gave a tight smile as I stepped into the room.

"Alice," Carlisle said as he stood up in his way of greeting. "I was just about to go get you. Are you feeling better?" He was probably just addressing my street clothes. I nodded. "That's good."

When Rosalie realized that I was here and that it was time to talk, she shook Emmett awake. He shot up slightly before relaxing with a smile. "Hey Alice!"

I rolled my eyes. "You're a little behind, Emmett. I was already greeted."

He didn't speak, but that was because he did not have time to retort. Rosalie immediately got down to business. "So why did you call us all here, Carlisle?" Typical Rose.

Dr. Cullen took a breath. His eyes settled on me momentarily before turning back to Rosalie, then switching off between the rest of them. "I know you guys have probably guessed why we are all here, but I just wanted to make sure you have the right story. With a town like Forks, sometimes things can get mixed up in one massive game of telephone."

I smiled at the reference, but my mood darkened at the prospect of having to listen to this. The entire room became smaller as the mood switched.

"Jasper came into the hospital with sever injuries, as you all may know. When they found him at his house, the police told me," He took a break, maybe debating whether or not we were old enough to hear the rest. "They said Mr. Whitlock was threatening his wife with Jasper on the floor. He failed to see reason when the police tried to talk to him, and was eventually brought into the station. Jasper was brought to the hospital, and upon further examination of his medical record and the scars adorning his body, they suspect Jasper has been hiding the fact that his father is rather physical." Again there was a pause to let everybody soak in the information.

Emmett cursed, but nobody reprimanded him. He was pale, looking up at the ceiling. Bella already knew- as did Edward –but both looked shaken. And Rosalie looked angry, plain and simple. Everybody turned to me after a moment; I kept my gaze focused downward.

"His father will be prosecuted, as will his mother. From the information the police collected, they are both at fault. Jasper will probably stay here for a bit, and his siblings will stay at their neighbors for a while. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to have to hear it from somebody else. I expect you to keep it confidential, though."

"Don't insult our integrity, Carlisle." Rosalie said with a glare, probably not angry at him but angry all the same.

Carlisle gave a small smile. "I was just trying to make my expectations clear."

Edward had his head in his hands, so it was a surprise when he spoke. "Why did this escalate so far? Why had he not tell somebody?"

Again, it was a surprise to everybody- myself included –when I responded. I had come to the conclusion that not speaking was the best plan, but here I was answering Edward's question. "He didn't want anybody to know. He's pretty good at keeping secrets." The tone in which I spoke was not angry or sad, but whimsical and far-off.

"That's the understatement of the year." Emmett said with bitter comedy.

"Where are they going after Jasper gets released?" Rosalie asked, ignoring Emmett as usual.

One thing I loved Rosalie was exhibited when she asked that question. It wasn't filled with _ifs _or _maybes._ It was clear-cut and simple. _When he got released._ It was as if everything was not up in the air.

"They will go to the closest relative, I assume." Carlisle said. "Assuming everything goes correctly, that is."

I knew Jasper did not have any aunts or uncles that did not live in Texas. Nobody lived around here. I frowned at this, never thinking about the after in the Save-Jasper plan.

There was a silence. Nobody looked like they wanted to speak. A customary sadness filled me when I thought of the prospect without Jasper. It would be like living without a limb- something dreadfully important was just missing.

"How could we have been so stupid?" Edward asked, referring to the obliviousness that Jasper had been giving during his time here in Forks.

I stood up abruptly, not wanting to hear anything else in this conversation. I did not want to sit here in pity when I could be next to Jasper. It was a spur of the moment decision. The conversation had not angered me too much previously.

As I stalked out of the room, ignoring the fact that my name was asked with amounts of concern, I turned back around. It was not because I was to return, but to leave them with one piece of knowledge. "He was glad you were. He thought it was better this way."

Without debating my words or the truth behind them, I left the stuffy atmosphere to return to Jasper.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

It was weird to be completely by myself. It had been a while since I was left to my own devices. First it was Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, then my parents. Even Jasper counted. When I was with him- whether he was conscious or not –I was hardly alone. It might sound entirely insane to say that I could picture his responses with such a clarity he was practically there. But if so, I was willing to be placed with that stereotype.

As silly as it did sound, I was anxious to see Jasper again. It was just as if he was awake, only he wasn't. I found myself on the way to Jasper's room, knowing that he would not even be there. Like before, my feet just lead me in that direction. They knew where I was going, even if I did not half of the time.

I relished the solitude on my way, even if I was surprised by the loneliness of it all. I was practically back to being a newborn, relying on others to be around me. But I squished that thought to the back of my mind as I elongated my gait slightly. Anxiousness overpowered the fact that this lack of companionship was nice.

It was stupid of me to get excited about the fact I was going to see Jasper once again. It was really stupid. I was setting myself up for failure- a fact that I only realized once I reached the open door of his room. Hope spiked momentarily before it fizzled away at the sight at the almost-empty bed.

Amanda was there. The moment I saw her I felt like I was intruding despite the fact that I had already seen this exact moment playing out before. I remembered the rest of the vision. But when I looked around to see Josh, he wasn't there. I knew how this played out. Here was Amanda, crying on the bed. After this, Josh _should _come in. He had spoken in a manner of which only little children can, and Amanda had looked comforted. I knew that I could not do the same.

Knowing this and also knowing that I could not leave her to stay as is, I left Jasper's sister and walked back to the only place I knew I could go. Because I had not been informed otherwise, I had to assume that Josh was with his brothers in the police room down the hall. It was all I had to go on. So I left her, not really wanting to think about the child sobbing behind me.

I casually cast off Jasper's siblings so often. After all, it wasn't with them that I had developed a thorough relationship. And besides, becoming friends with Jasper's twin brothers did not sound like an appealing idea. However, I knew that what I had done had been the wrong thing throughout. I should not have ignored the fact that living as Josh, or as Amanda, or even Chase and Austin would not be simple. They might not have to deal with their father in the same manner as Jasper, but they certainly I had to live in the same confines, and _that _was downright terrifying. The couple short conversations with the man had not left a good impression to say the least.

I sympathized with the lot. Doing what Amanda did on a daily basis was most likely not an easy feat. Watching your brother being hurt like that by your father was something I could not even fathom- particularly because I neither had an aggressive father nor did I have any siblings. The combination of having both certainly did not seem pretty.

Josh, too, seemed to have it hard, despite his age. Or perhaps it was because of his age. Jasper, as well as his other siblings, knows now what a father should be. He should hide ice cream for his child like mine does; he should be the one giving awkward dating advice or totally misinterpreting their teen's behavior. I know that, Jasper knows that. But does Josh have an inkling of what a father should be? I hoped his skew version of the figure would correct itself with age. I really did.

It was the subject of my thoughts that startled me from my reverie and alerted me of my new location. He was standing there looking up at me with eyes no child should possess. Nobody should have the ability to make you comply to their wills with just a look. I had to admit that with those large, innocent eyes, I would give Josh anything. "Alice?" He asked, tugging his ear. The pure delight in his tone made me smile along with him, even with my somber thoughts.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" I asked, nodding my head with only partially feigned excitement.

His eyes widened as if I had just suggested we travel to Candy Mountain. He nodded eagerly and ran to grab my hand. With his small fingers curled in my own, I looked about to see where the twins are.

I frowned when I did not see them. They were supposed to be watching Josh. It was not as if he was old enough to take care of himself. What if I had been somebody else with not-so-pleasant intentions? A flash of anger pulsed through me before I pushed it away and focused on more prevalent matters. "Do you want to go see Amanda?" I asked the boy next to me.

A confused expression wrinkled his features as he thought. "She said not to follow her because she was going to go somewhere I wasn't supposed to be." He said with a matter-of-fact tone.

I tried to keep my own voice serious so Josh could comprehend the situation. "I know she said that," I lied. "But she could your help right now. She's really sad." It was the understatement of the day, but describing the sobs wracking his sister's body was not something I wanted to share with him.

"She's sad?" He asked, his previous expression only deepening.

"She is." I struggled for words. "She would really like to talk to you. Do you think you could do that?"

He nodded with a grim finality, as if he understood the significance of his doing so. When he did not respond verbally, I took it as a hint that he did not want to communicate his thoughts.

We walked back to Jasper's room at a slowed pace compared to the one I had used to get to Josh. It was due to his small strides, but it did not bother me too much. We had to get to Amanda soon seeing her current mood. However, that did not mean I was anxious to do so.

When we rounded the last corner, the room was finally in sight. I knew without even glancing inside that Amanda had not moved, still curled up on the bed shaking. I let go of Josh's hand and knelt down so I was at his level. "Can you go talk to her?" I asked him softly so as the sole occupant of the room could not hear me.

"Stay here." He commanded me with stern eyes- an almost comical look. Without another words he slide into the room with determination in his demeanor. "Amanda?" He asked. It was eavesdropping to stand here listening in. And although I should have left the doorway so they could have a private conversation, I did not.

The girl looked up with surprise. Her crying stopped instantly and I did not want to know whether or not that was an ability she had to learn growing up. All tears just… vanished. Apart from her puffy eyes and red cheeks, I would have thought she was simply sleeping. "Why are you here?" She asked in a tone not unfriendly.

"You are sad and you really want to talk to me." He said, clearly repeating my words from earlier from a different prospective.

Amanda seemed to notice that these words where not his own as well. She gave a smile, one that looked completely genuine even though I doubted it was, and patted the bed next to her with a peculiar expression on her face. "I do, do I?" She asked in a kid-friendly tone. I was surprised by how good of an act she could put on. "What do I want to talk about?"

Josh smiled his brilliant little smile. "You want to talk about why you're sad. Otherwise you might not know."

I laughed silently at how the comment seemed to make little sense. Amanda appeared to be used to this, or at least she portrayed no genuine feelings of annoyance or confusion. Her expression was serious. "I'm sad because I miss our brother."

Josh looked at her for a moment, comprehending her reply. "Jasper?" He asked. Amanda gave him a sad smile and nodded in response. "Did you see him?"

"I did." Her voice did not lose that same tone. "But he's really sick. He was sleeping so he'd get better soon."

"Like I did when I got that fever?" The innocent question brought tears to my eyes and I felt even guiltier for listening in. I still didn't move though. I wanted to hear what Amanda would say.

She nodded again, a smile still on her face. "Exactly," She said- proud that he had comprehended her message.

"You don't need to be sad then." Josh said. "I got better after sleeping it off and Jasper will too because he's older and doesn't get fevers very often." When she did not say something immediately, Josh continued. "Tell her, Alice. Jasper will be good as new soon."

As soon as the boy spoke those words, Amanda's head shot up in my direction as if she had subconsciously knew where I was. Her eyes narrowed slightly, losing the manner in which was using when talking to Josh. "Alice," She acknowledged.

"Hi, Amanda," I said with more of a smile in my voice than I intended. It sounded out of place in this context. I did not mention the fact though, nor did she. Josh just stood there, looking expectantly between the two of us.

Amanda nodded, answering a question in her head. "The doctors said he'd be back in an hour." I knew she was speaking of Jasper.

"When did they say that?" I asked with true curiosity.

Amanda looked up to the ceiling with an almost ditzy look. I was amazed once again at her acting skills. "I think it was, like, an hour and a half ago."

The nonchalant tone was completely misleading. I felt my stomach turn as I thought of the implications. She was giving me this look. It was half begging me to say something comforting, half asking me to regard this information in the same way she did. I went with the latter simply because I was never one for supportive words. That and the fact that Josh was in the room and I'd rather he didn't feel the same way I felt now.

"So any time now, right?" My voice sounded all wrong- forced and high-pitched, especially compared to Amanda's. She nodded with the grace of somebody who actually knew what they were doing.

"Amanda?" Josh asked suddenly, breaking off what small conversation we were having. I gave me a break so I could take a breath and smother the feelings that arose, as well as the thoughts.

"Yes?" She sounded distracted.

"Why are you taller than Alice if she is older than you?" It was asked in complete seriousness, just as our earlier conversation had been in.

Amanda let out a laugh, whether for her benefit or for his, I don't know. I allowed myself a smile of my own, but that was it. My thoughts did not allow me the luxury of the laugh Amanda had made. I was all too aware of the fact Jasper was not present. I felt a longing I had suppressed recently flare once again. I wanted him near me. Placing a hand over my heart subconsciously, I listened to Amanda's explanation.

"Sometimes people are just shorter than others. We come from a very tall family were Alice comes from a shorter family. Do you understand?"

Josh nodded. "Does this mean I'll be tall too, like Jasper?" He asked enthusiastically.

Amanda's smile disappeared off of her face immediately. Her answer was solemn despite the playful words. "Maybe taller,"

Josh giggled and continued to ask questions as Amanda continued to answer them, being a considerate older sister. I was silent, standing patiently on the outskirts. I did not want to leave the room. That would mean not seeing Jasper until a while after he got back and I did not want to have to wait.

It seemed that time had always hated me. It would go slow when I was waiting and sped up when I did not have time. This was another time when I was reminded of this thought. I closed my eyes and pictured Jasper standing next to me. He would be fumbling with his silly bandage like he always did. Most likely his eyes would be downward despite my constant reminder to have eye contact. In all honesty, he would be much taller than me like Josh had pointed out. I was rather short, and Jasper was admittedly pretty tall.

But of course, Jasper's stance would not be the erect one I had taken on, but a slouched position that could only be Jasper's. Perhaps I might take it upon myself to lean onto him. I had not had the confidence to do so before, but I wanted to know. I would rest my head against his chest and pull his arms around me to give me both warmth and support.

But that was only if he was here, and he was not. He was in the hospital somewhere. Though that hardly gave me any solace, even if I knew it to be true. I wanted him to be right here, just as I had imagined him. That way, I could try my novel idea and see how he reacted. I'd hope he would enjoy the embrace as much as I did. But then again, it was only a dream. It would be a while before I could be in that situation, if ever.

It was during my thoughts about Jasper when I heard a comforting disturbance. I knew from the idle, albeit professional, chatter that there were either or doctors or nurses coming into the room. Opening my eyes, I saw a couple of them rolling in the gurney with a limp and unconscious Jasper aboard. My eyes scanned him for some sort of indication that he was hurt, but he looked almost the same- if not a little paler.

Once they situated him back into the original bed, the medical staff left the room. They may or may not have said something to me, but I would not know. I was simply focused on him, laying there still. My heart wrenched once again, knowing there was nothing I could do. Jasper had so much faith in me. Even during my horrific vision, where I couldn't comprehend the brutality of somebody, Jasper had thought of me. He had asked for my help. I couldn't though. I could do nothing but watch.

Again, it was eventually Josh who broke my currant train of though. His expression had resumed his customary frown of confusion. He looked first to me, and then to Amanda before voicing his question. "So Jasper is just sleeping off his fever?"

Tears ran down my cheeks as I let out a bark of laughter. In the back of mind, I knew it sounded crazy, but I did not pay attention the fact. Amanda looked at me with worried eyes as I responded. "Yes, Josh. He is just sleeping so he can get better soon."

I ended up falling asleep next to Jasper while Amanda and Josh sat near by. How Amanda managed to silence the little boy, I did not know. I do know, however, that it was not him to wake me up. In fact, it was my mother gently shaking my shoulder that brought me back to the outside world.

"It's time to go home." My mother said, standing in my field of vision. As I blearily opened my eyes, her face came into focus. I felt so tired. I just wanted to fall back asleep and wait for Jasper to wake up. My mother's words did not register until she repeated them again.

"What?" I asked, my voice thick from sleep. I sounded tired, and my appearance probably matched. I knew what my mother was saying, but I had to ask the question, not knowing if she was actually serious.

"It's time to go to bed, Honey. It's almost nine o'clock." My mother had one hand on her hip, but her voice remained gentle. The hand was a just reminder on how fast this could escalate. I didn't want that, but I didn't want to go home either.

"Can't I just sleep here tonight?" The chair I was sitting in was comfortable enough. I had already made a bed out of it and staying longer did not seem like such a bad idea. Moving, however, did. I did not have the energy.

"It's against hospital policy, Alice. And you were at the hospital long enough. Don't you want to sleep in your own bed?" She was going for every offense possible at once. Taking in the rules, the appeal, and the practicality, her argument was sound. It left me to flounder and sound like a rather petulant child.

"I don't care if I sleep in my own bed or not." I could hear the note of stubbornness, but apparently my mother could not.

"Let's go, Alice." She said as if I had not even responded. She reached out a hand for me to grab. I really didn't want to do that.

Amanda was the one to respond. She was still sitting in a chair on the opposite of Jasper having not moved while I slept. "I won't leave him. It's okay if you go and get some rest. You look pretty tired."

I wanted to glare at her. I was nice enough to be kind and forgiving when it came to Jasper. I would not have been out of my rights to say she should not even be allowed in the room. But I didn't say that. I tried to be friend and here she is- just finding an excuse to force me to leave. I gave her a rather sarcastic smile, something that was very unlike me.

Without another word, I stood up without my mother's help and started to leave the room. I gave one last look at Jasper, feeling guilty that I was so unlike the characters in movies. Why couldn't I sit next to his bed and cry like every other person would do? Why did people have to come with the insistence that I left?

When I was out in the hallway, it was only a matter of seconds before my mother came stomping out. "What are you doing, Alice? Why are treating her like that? She's going through a rough time right now. That's her brother in there. She's known him for much longer than you."

I turned around and allowed my voice to get louder than was appropriate. I was unable to keep the biting tone out of my speech. Her words had unleashed anger I did not know I had. "Don't act like you know what you are talking about." I turned away from her as I started to walk away.

My mother kept my pace. "What is that supposed to mean?"

I didn't answer her right away. Rather, I kept walking. I had to slow down some so my mother could take the lead, but that did not mean my anger was appeased. She wouldn't be graced with a response.

"Alice," She demanded. "What is that supposed to mean?" I could tell I was walking in dangerous territory, but I did not respond until we were in the parking lot, heading straight to the car.

"It means that Amanda hardly has the right to be in that room next to Jasper. It means that she deserved my _attitude._" She knew I was referring the word she commonly used, and it wasn't out of respect.

"What makes you say that? I thought I raised you better than this." She started the car and put it into drive.

"Please, Mom," I scoffed. Taking in another breath, I continued. "Amanda isn't some sweet and kind little girl. You know she did? You wouldn't actually, would you? Because you are all too ready to think I'm the one with the problem. At least I wouldn't sit there and ignore the screams coming from upstairs."

Silence. My mother opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately before trying again. Her voice had lost the heat of the argument. "What are you saying?" She asked.

I sighed again at my mother's attempt to get me to talk. I spoke nonetheless, only because I didn't deserve the comments she had made. "Jasper told me about it," I lied. The visions had told me, but I wasn't about to tell my mother that. "His dad would-" Pause. "He would do stuff to him and it wasn't a secret in his house. All of his siblings and his mother, they all knew. And they ignored it like it wasn't even happening. Josh would be the only one to react. And you tell me that she cares more about him than I do? _I _wouldn't sit there and pretend my life is perfect."

I turned my head to look out the window. The scenery was typical Forks. There were trees and rain and more trees. I didn't want to meet my mom's gaze. She sighed a weary sigh. "Alice," Her voice sounded pained. "Look at me."

I didn't. I kept my eyes trained on the passing objects. "Alice," She warned again.

I turned to glare. "_What?" _

"You can't judge a person when you have never been in their shoes." She said, ignoring the demand I had just given her.

I didn't answer until we were at the house. I opened the door and looked at my mom. She hadn't moved. "Thanks for the wisdom, Mom." I slammed the door.

The anger was so consuming that it wasn't until I was safely in my room with the door shut that I thought about what I had said. It wasn't pretty and I knew my mother didn't deserve everything I had said to her.

But still, why was she defending her? Amanda had been cruel, no matter what her situation was. She had left Jasper practically for dead. Once that thought crossed my mind, I immediately shuddered. Jasper was not dead, nor was I going to think anything along those lines.

I also felt guilty about thinking those things- about both Jasper and Amanda. It was more the anger than anything that dictated my spiteful thoughts. I should have contained them, but I was just glad that I had refrained from mentioning them in the hospital room. As much as Amanda's blatant comment annoyed me, I agreed with my mother when she said the girl was going through a lot.

I prepared for bed while I was thinking despite the fact all wariness had left when my emotions began to pound. Still, I went through the motions of dressing slowly into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and then brushing my teeth with a dentist's precision. All-in-all it was rather boring and by the time I had finished, my mood was much more subdued than it had been before all of this had started.

That, however, did not mean that I was tired. When I turned the lights off and laid in my bed, I did not feel an inkling of the relaxed slumber coming on. I couldn't help but reach over and place my hand on the spot where Jasper had slept the night before. The bed might have been more comfortable, but I would take the chair over the empty feeling in my chest any day.

Something about the way the sheets were still wrinkled and the fact that much time hadn't passed bothered me. It made me feel like something was about of place- that something was wrong. But I knew what I was feeling and I knew why, so I just sat there and stared off into the dark.

I should have fallen asleep. Jasper was sleeping at the moment. Why couldn't I do the same? Into whatever realm we fall in when we sleep, we could be there together. The thought was comforting, but it did not make my eyelids heavier nor did it truly relax my mind.

It did, however, make me feel lonely. Knowing that recently I had a companion with me made me all the more alone. The room was quiet and there was not a movement about. I was the only one here.

I wasn't as much crying about these thoughts as pushing myself farther away from this plane of existence. That's why when my cell phone rang I was extremely surprised. The sound of the multi-tonal ringing broke the wall of silence that had enveloped me. I pushed the blankets off of me and reached into my jacket's pocket. Upon grasping the object, I ceased the noise by bringing it up to my ear and pressing the call button. "Hello?"

It briefly confused me why somebody would be calling at this time before the person replied and I did not think twice. "Alice?"

"What happened? Is everything okay?" I demanded immediately. Panic glared in my gut at the sound of Rosalie's voice. Why would she be calling me if not for bad news?

"Everything's fine, Alice." There was a hint of a smile in her voice, and that calmed the frantic note of my emotions into a dulled confusion.

I didn't want to sound rude to my friend, but I was simply trying to find an answer to soothe my beating heart. "Why are you calling then?" I suppose I was within my rights of asking this. After all, it was after midnight by the time she called.

"It's Jasper." She said. I felt my heart flutter trying to think of the reason behind her calling. "He woke up."

Thousands of thoughts and feelings rushed through me, too many to ponder each one. After taking a second to catch my breath, I heard my voice asking. "Is he- Is he awake as in actually awake?"

I hardly made sense, but this did not seem to bother Rosalie. She still sounded thrilled when she responded. "He's really awake, Alice." There was a small pause. "He's asking for you."

"Ten minutes." I said. "Give me ten minutes." Without even a good-bye I flung the phone shut and only paused to grab my jacket on the way out of my room. I tried to be quiet as I thundered down the stairs, but I hardly put an effort into it. Most of my thoughts were directed on the fact that I not wanted but _needed _to move as quickly as possible.

I hardly thought of what I was doing as I slid on some shoes and started off to the hospital in a full out sprint. It was usually a thirty minute walk to my destination, but I knew I wasn't exaggerating when I said ten. Jasper was asking for me. And if he needed my help, I would be there to give it to him.

Jasper Point of View

"Jasper," He was saying. "Hey, Buddy. Can you pay attention to my voice? Ignore everything else."

The voice was smooth and deep. It sounded caring and carried a certain amount of respect. It would have been easy to focus on if I could remember where I was.

But I couldn't. There was a flurry of motion around me as sounds penetrated the air. Hands were touching me and somebody was holding my shoulder gently. The action was familiar, even though it was still uncomfortable. I squirmed under the hand as I tried to orient myself in the blur around me.

It was hard to focus on anything with the pain that was basically everywhere. I tried to say something, but my mouth was obstructed. I felt my heartbeat skyrocket. I was having trouble breathing. I scrunched my eyelids shut as I tried to push air into my lungs. That same voice was still talking to me. "Jasper? You need to focus. Can you try and cough for me?"

How could I cough if I could not breathe? I felt like somebody was trying to suffocate me. Nevertheless, I still tried to do so. Rather than sucking air in I tried pushing it out. At the same time, something was scratching inside of my throat. It was painful and I started to cough harder. I was trying to evade the hand on my shoulder and get away from this hell.

The obstruction was gone seconds later, but I was still having trouble breathing. I wanted to cry as the air singed my swollen throat. It was one pain to add to the list as I tried now to pull myself inward, ignoring all of the prodding hands.

"You did well, Jasper" The voice repeated my name. "It's over now." But it wasn't. Every nerve in my body was on fire. I shifted my position and it only increased the flame. I was having trouble keeping the tears from streaming down my face. "Are you in any pain?" The voice was asking.

That was a question I felt like I could answer. I nodded my head vigorously only to have the ache in my brain increase tenfold. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and the heavy thudding was not improving the feeling.

"Okay," The voice said. "We'll give you something for that. Can you open your eyes for me?"

I didn't want to. I wanted to fall back into the semi-consciousness I had been in before. The pain was bearable then, if only just. This was not. Too many sensations ravaged my body.

"Jasper," The voice said in warning. It was not threatening, but it made me want to follow the instructions. However, the light penetrating through my closed eyes suggested that they should stay that way. I shook my head no. I was reminded again that it was best to keep from my neck up still.

"The nurse just gave you some pain medicine. You'll feel better in a few minutes." I heard. It seemed impossible for any combination of herbs and extracts combined with scientific research to diminish the feelings right now. I could hear a groan come from somewhere at the same time my throat caught fire once again.

I still wanted to cry. I had always been good at grimacing through it, but I was scared right now. I was in pain and I couldn't understand where I was and what was going on. The voice whispered comforting things in my ear but I had all but completely forgotten it.

I didn't want to move at the same time I needed to escape. Every time I moved one of my muscles the accompanying flare of pain would reveal itself. I stood stock still, but even that did not cease the throbbing ache.

It was only after a certain coolness seeped through my veins could I focus on anything except myself. Everything became dulled down at the same time my surroundings made themselves known to me. The voice was still talking and I started to make out the words midsentence. "-going to be okay. You just need to relax. Open your eyes for me, Jasper. You're in the hospital and everything is going to be okay." It sounded like a repeat, as if the person had gone through this speech more than once.

I felt safer opening my eyes, but the burst of light that came in was too much. I immediately shut them again. The voice stopped momentarily before starting up again. "That was really good, Jasper. Can you try again? I dimmed the lights."

I opened them again. I was staring at the ceiling. And even though the medication had dulled the pain, my headache was more than prominent at this increase of light. A man's face came into view. I recognized him. I could match the voice to his visage. "Jasper? Do you remember me?"

I nodded, and for the third time I wish I didn't. "Yes," I said, only to discover that talking was just as bad.

"You had a tube in your throat. It will hurt to talk. But that's very good, Jasper. Do you know where you are?" He kept repeating my name. I remembered who I was, I didn't need him to keep saying it. I knew my name.

I did not, however, know where I was. I knew I was in something soft. I knew I was in a place with whooshing sounds and a rather cool temperature. I shuddered at that. Goosebumps popped up on my arms. "Are you cold?" The man asked.

I didn't know how to respond. I didn't want to respond. I wanted to go back to sleep where I did not have to deal with this. It might have been unpleasant before, but this was torture. The man repeated his question and I felt obligated to respond.

"Yes," My voice came out as a whisper, but that did not mean that the burning in my throat did not make itself more pronounced once again.

"I'll get you a blanket." The man said. He disappeared out of my line of vision before popping back in it seconds later with a thin blanket in his hands. I didn't feel the extra weight of said blanket, but after a few moments the shivers did diminish some.

"That better?" He asked. The concern infused with his tone matched the man's appearance to a name. Carlisle. Dr. Cullen. I managed to make myself nod yes, even if I was dreading it. Carlisle smiled. "Good," He said. "Do you know where you are?" He asked again.

This time, I was brave enough to tilt my head to the side to see if I could recognize the place. The machinery and walls looked familiar, everything did, but I could not put a name to this place, even if I knew I had been here before.

"No," I said. My throat did not feel any better. I was resolved to not respond verbally again. Anything to avoid talking sounded okay at this point.

"You are in the hospital." He said. Questions slowly formed in my mind. I didn't know how I got here. I did not know _why _I was here. If the pain was any indication, however, I knew being here made sense. I just couldn't remember the reasons behind it. My heart started pounding faster as I thought of my lapse in memory. What if something had happened? Where was Josh? Where was Alice?

The thought of her did not soothe my anxiety this time. Where was Alice? I had to ask, even if every word burned before it had even escaped my mouth. "Alice." I said, not wanting to say more, but wanting to get my message across. "Where is she?"

Carlisle expression looked confused. "She's at home. She is okay." I could tell he wanted to say more, but I interrupted him.

"I want Alice. Where is she?" The tears were coming harder. I could feel my body shaking. And despite what they had given me, the pain increased.

"Jasper," Carlisle said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I did not like that. Flashes of a bright light and worried faces sprang to mind from that touch. I tried to shrug it off without moving too much. Carlisle immediately removed his hand before continuing. "You need to relax. Alice is alright. Nothing happened to her."

The words did not register in my mind. She was not here. My heart was beating harder and harder. Confusion was blurring all rational thought, confusion and worry. I heard somewhere in the back of my mind a door opening before another face came into view. She was blond and pretty, but not who I was looking for. A name sprung to mind before she even opened her mouth. "He's awake?" She asked in astonishment. "Jasper? How are you feeling?"

I did not want to answer her as mush as I did not want to answer Carlisle. I closed my eyes shut. If I could not see them, they were not there. I heard Carlisle respond, but he was not talking to me. "Rosalie, can you call Alice?" He was saying. "Jasper is worried about her."

I did not hear Rosalie answer, but I did hear footsteps leaving the room. Carlisle's words did not make sense to me. The meaning was there, I just could not translate it. He was saying something else. His voice was still calm and relaxed, but I could hear the tension in it.

His voice continued to resound through the room. And even though I could not bring forth the energy to listen to it, the gentle tone it sent out was about the only comforting thing I could think of. It lessoned the feeling that I could not smother.

But nothing could have the effect I desired, nothing but feeling Alice's hand in mine. Nothing could compare to Alice's physical presence. I didn't know where she was. I did not know if she was okay. Trying to come up with an answer to either of these unknowns was near impossible.

As my apprehension increased, the other feelings seemed to as well. I was so uncomfortable. Even the soft bed I was laying on seemed to be only a pressure to my already aching limbs. Each breath I pulled in only seemed to fuel the fire in my throat. I could feel the tears on my face, and even they seemed to add to my discomfort.

"Alice is okay, Jasper. You are okay. You need to relax. If you don't, they're going to have to give you something. You're not ready for this Jasper. Just relax. You will feel better." The voice continued. I could hardly remember who it belonged to. It chanted words along the same meaning. I tuned it out once again. I wanted everything to end.

I just wanted Alice. I wanted to feel okay. I wanted everything to stop bombarding my poor head. But none of that happened and the feelings I wanted to stop stayed strong. The voice continued on. It kept repeating itself. "Rosalie is going to go get Alice right now. She will be happy to hear that you have woken up. But to stay awake you need to calm down, Jasper."

I could understand that. He told me I needed to relax if I wanted to see Alice. It was slightly ironic that seeing Alice seemed like the only thing I could thing of that could sooth my rushing heartbeat.

Seeing her smile would have the same effect. Hearing her voice would smother the fire. Just feeling the electricity and energy that always seemed to bound off the small girl would be okay.

"That's good, Jasper. Just calm down. Can you hear what I am saying?" The voice continued. It was Carlisle's voice. I opened my eyes once again. I felt slightly better thinking of Alice. "That's really good. Stay right here. You don't need to think about anything else."

"Alice?" I managed to get out of my swollen throat. Carlisle nodded slowly.

"She is going to be here soon. She was at home sleeping when you woke up. Do you know what time it is?"

His question was rather stupid. That much I could think of. If I could not recognize where I was, how could I know what time it was? I shook my head, and this time the blaring pain did not radiate harder. It was the same as before. My confidence grew as I shifted my weight off of one of my throbbing limbs hesitantly.

"It's very late. Almost two in the morning. I was sleeping too. But the racket you made woke me up. With all of the monitors going off and the nurses in here, it would have been hard to sleep." He continued talking, never moving out of my sight. However, I stopped listening.

Once again I found it too hard to concentrate on his continuous talk. I appreciated it, but the meaning escaped me. I closed my eyes to evade the fluorescent lights. My body still hurt and my mind still was somewhat frantic, but I could focus on the tone of Carlisle's voice. It continued and continued. Without even a meaning, I could appreciate it. I was grateful he was here.

But I still wanted Alice. He was no substitution for the girl I had depended on for so long. I could wait for her though. And when she got here, I wanted an explanation. I was still confused. She could explain everything. And even if she didn't, I could listen to her. She had such a pretty voice. I knew that she could fix my oversensitive extremities. She could fix the pounding my head, the burning in my throat. But until then, I listened to the sound of Carlisle's voice and I drifted -not into sleep- but into a relaxed state of waiting, waiting for Alice to come.

Alice Point of View

The elevator would not move fast enough. You would think that after centuries of random toggling with bits and pieces- as well as the invention of electricity- that an elevator in the hospital would be pretty quick. Think about it, if someone were dying or something, would they really sit and wait on the stupid elevator's doors to close?

No. That would be stupid. But they did do such a thing, and for that I could barely believe the truth. I was practically dying here, and I had to wait for the slow procession of various tasks to be made before the elevator jerked to a start and started to move upward.

You would also think the elevator would be smoother here. Like I said, this is a hospital. If somebody had to perform emergency surgery on the way, what would they do?

All in all, the invention of the modern elevator- particularly those in hospitals- is one that people will need to review. The stupid piece of machinery could not be any slower and I had somewhere I needed to be, someone I needed to be with.

My foot was tapping anxiously against the floor on its own accord. I watched it tap out of rhythm with the music playing in the background. Another addition to the elevator: better music. This was not where I wanted to be.

I had made it pretty evident to any bystander that I wanted to be in the hospital quickly. Just the fact that my face was red and my breathing was labored from the running was an indication that my patience was short right now.

That's why when the elevator opened its doors to the correct floor, I let out a sigh of both annoyance at the length of time that it took and relief at the fact that-no matter how long that actually was- I was finally here.

Taking as long of strides as my legs would allow, I briskly walked through the maze of hallways. I was having a sense of déjà vu having been in this situation only hours before. In the back of my mind, I warned myself not to get too excited. I knew that Jasper would probably be only semi-coherent or maybe he even fell back to sleep.

As long as he was okay though. I would do anything to make sure he was okay, and that was one of the reasons I found myself so anxious despite the fact things had gone less than okay last time I made this trek.

Nothing would ever stand out in my mind more than the expression on Jasper's face the last time I ran to find him. I would never forget the way my stomach plummeted and my legs shook when I saw him like that. However, I was determined to ignore the fact as I walked with a purpose to his room.

It was just around the corner, roughly twenty-five feet or so. There were only twenty-five feet separating me from him. Twenty now. I used all of my restraint to keep from literally throwing myself towards the door. I would enter with the calm state of being Jasper tended to be in when he was not nervous. It was the least I could do.

I turned the corner and was surprised to see people gathered around Jasper's door. Edward, Esme, and Rosalie were all standing and talking about something right in front of me. I came to a half a few steps away. Rosalie took immediate notice. "Alice!" She exclaimed with a wide smile on her face, engulfing me in a hug. "He really wants to see you."

My heart skipped a beat at that notion. Rosalie had told me something similar earlier, but I still felt loved when I heard that I was the person Jasper wanted to see most at this point. "He does?" I heard myself ask.

Edward gave a quirky smile. "Well, duh."

I stuck my tongue out at the boy before looking hopefully at the closed door. Nobody had moved away from it, allowing me entrance. I was going to voice my opposition to the fact when Carlisle stepped out. He looked genuinely surprised to see me and his haggard face lit up. "I'm so glad you're here." His expression darkened slightly. "I can't get him to really calm down. It's not good for him."

I felt my own euphoria at the fact that he was awake dampen. "But he's going to be okay now, right? Now that he's awake?"

Carlisle gave me a short nod. "He definitely is over the hump. Alice, when you go in there, make sure to stay very calm." He warned. "He's on some pretty heavy medication so you might notice he's a little loopy, but that's to be expected. Try to get him to go to sleep. He needs his rest."

I nodded, feeling like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. It was such a responsibility according to Carlisle. This was not a happy rendezvous, it was a serious situation. Although I was still both extremely glad and excited to see Jasper again, I had a solemn look on my face. "Can I go in now?"

He took a step to the side. With a feeling of anticipation coursing through my veins, I hesitantly pushed the book open and walked into the room.

It was the same room as before. Nothing obvious had changed about it. The walls were still the same color and the beds were still in the same place. However, it did not feel like the same dreary room from before. My mood was still much lighter than it had been the first time I entered Jasper's room.

My eyes did not stay focused on the ceiling or the bed for too long. Almost immediately, I found them centralized on the person on the bed. With his blue eyes opened and exposed to the world, the being that before I could barely associate with Jasper now seemed like the person I have come to know so well. "Jasper," I said, his name rolling of my tongue without much thought.

He was laying almost completely horizontally, and when he struggled to get a view of the person speaking to him, I walked into his range. His eyes filled with tears. "Alice," He said. His voice was scratchy and rough. It sounded painful. Every injury adorning his body looked gruesome, but he paid no notice.

His casted hand fumbled around, and it took me a second to comprehend the reasoning for it. I immediately grasped his fingers and gripped them as tightly as I felt safe doing so.

Simultaneously lowering myself into a chair, I never let my gaze wander from his. I didn't say anything. I couldn't formulate words, yet alone complete phrases. Jasper broke the silence with his hoarse voice. "I thought you were gone,"

The childlike innocence of the phrase struck me. I felt tears building in my own eyes as I shook my head no. "I would never leave you, Jasper." I did not know exactly what he had been referring to with his statement, but I knew mine applied in all contexts.

He had closed his eyes before I began speaking, as if his one comment had all but exhausted him. I would have thought him to be asleep if his thumb had not been drawing circles of the back of my hand. I relaxed at that sole movement. It spoke more than words ever could. It was amazing to feel motion from somebody who had laid still for so long.

"I missed you." He said. He looked out-of-it; that much was obvious. But still, I felt my own confusion at his words. I squeezed his hand just a little harder.

"But I wasn't gone." If he hadn't felt my presence… My heart sunk at the notion. All of the time I had spent waiting here- pleading to be by his side- I hadn't even comforted him. Jasper closed his eyes wearily.

"I know." He said, barely opening his mouth to speak. Those simple words lifted my mood tenfold. I turned his casted arm around in mine, exposing his palm. Maybe he really could sense me as much as I was alert of his being near me. Maybe we truly did belong together.

But that thought of the future made me shudder slightly. As far as what's going to happen, that was unclear. All of the uncertainties that lay ahead made me want to curl up and forget it all. I found myself speaking my major worry aloud. "What's going to happen?"

The question was similar to that of the one Rosalie asked. However, while hers was to seek necessary information and full of confidence, I could hear the crack in my voice. I shouldn't have spoken. I didn't want Jasper to think of the fact he might be moving back to Texas. I was pretty sure he would be as upset as I was.

It was to my surprise; however, when I saw him smile. "This was your idea." He let out a weak laugh, which escalated into a cough that I didn't think was going to stop. Panic was prominent in me as I touched his back. He had sat up in the process of his half-coughing half-choking.

Inching closer, I didn't know what to do other than stand there. Eventually, it died down. He leaned back on the pillows with a grimace on his face. He looked whiter than the sheets at this point.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper." I said, allowing my own pain to seep into my voice. I closed my eyes, wishing everything could just disappear for a minute and allow me to gather my bearings.

"Hey," Jasper's voice interrupted me thoughts before they could grow in severity. I opened my eyes and focused them on his pain-filled ones. His voice was worse than ever and his breathing was ragged. "This isn't your fault."

I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding. However, that did not stop me from squeezing his hand tightly, nor did it change the fact that my eyes were overcome by tears. I couldn't keep the sobs inside of me. "How can you say that? You being here? Yeah, that's my fault." I opened my mouth to continue in a voice almost as rough as Jasper's.

"Alice," The one word stopped me in my tracks. I could hear the effort it took Jasper to say it. I could practically feel my own throat swell up with his pain. His eyes were focused on mine, despite looking glassy. "I chose to go through with this and it was my idea to return. Settle this as a no fault?" He had a tired smile on his face by the end.

My own face broke out in an expression that could hardly be described as a smile. To both appease him and the growing emotions in my stomach, I quickly agreed. "I can deal with that."

"Then it's settled." The finality in his voice allowed no room for argument. I felt compelled to leave it as is. However, my mouth ran faster than my brain, and before I even had comprehended my own thoughts, I was asking Jasper the same question I regretted earlier.

"You never answered my question." I suppose it was my fears just getting away from me. Of course, it also could be my own stupidity. Either way, I tried to hide the expression that threatened to show itself. I didn't want Jasper to know that I hardly had a grasp on everything, and the marred visage that almost escaped would have been indicative of exactly that.

"Which one?" I could tell Jasper was getting more and more droopy at this point. He had his eyes closed once again. His fingers relaxed in my hand and for a second I wondered if he had fallen asleep. That thought, however, disappeared when he repeated his question.

I drew in a breath, trying to be calm. "What is going to happen?"

Before he responded, I went through the possibilities with as much detachment as possible. Jasper might move to Texas. It seemed more than likely. He could go live with his aunts and uncles and be happy there. His parents could somehow be released, but that likelihood was small enough I hardly considered it. Jasper could go to the custody of somebody that lived nearby. Maybe a neighbor liked his family enough that they were willing to take him in. There were a million different futures ahead of him and his siblings. But as I went through them, I tried to keep from breaking down.

"Alice, I honestly don't know." Jasper said. He hardly sounded coherent, and his eyes barely cracked open as he spoke.

"But," I began, hardly comprehending the manner in which he admitted that the future was so uncertain. It was everything.

"But nothing. It doesn't matter." He didn't sound half-awake now, but the words he was speaking could hardly have been thought through. He sounded crazy. I squeezed his hand again.

"How can you say that?" I whispered. I needed to know the reasoning behind his declaration. Had he lost the hope in his future?

"Because it doesn't, Alice. As long as I have you, nothing matters." His eyes were peering into my own with a confidence I did not know he possessed. His words, as well, were more convinced than ever. My stomach twisted inside of me. I could feel my eyes widening and filling with tears once again.

"Jasper," My voice came out in a coarse whisper.

"Alice," He said, looking away before meeting my gaze once again. He took a breath before speaking. "I know I love you."

With those words, I felt such confidence that I knew where his determination and resolve came from. I did not consider the words my mom had told me about teenage love; I was not worried about the fact that we had only known each other for a short period of time; I was not troubled by anything. The future didn't matter anymore. As long as Jasper with me, everything was just right.

I felt myself leaning down and kissing him on his lips. It was not like the bashful kiss to his fingers, nor was it anything like the embarrassed kiss from the classroom. It had as much conviction as Jasper's voice. And when I spoke, it had as confidence as my words. Everything was going to be right. "I know I love you too."

28


End file.
